A Holiness testimony!

This morning I read the following on the ArmyBarmy blog.

“Some people like to argue that Wesley actually never testified to the holiness he recommended and preached.”

Last week I determined to blog no more until I had personally resolved the outstanding issue of holiness in my life. What many have accused Wesley of was certainly true for me – I had not experienced the cause which I so enthusiastically championed!

Steve then went on to defend Wesley with the following quote from the Father of Methodism:

“Many years since I saw that 'without holiness no man shall see the Lord'. I began by following after it and inciting all with whom I had any intercourse to do the same. Ten years after, God gave me a clearer view than I had ever had before of the way how to obtain it, only by faith in the Son of God. And immediately I declared to all, "We are saved from sin. We are made holy by faith."

10 years ago I was wonderfully saved – Hallelujah! My testimony can be found here. Since then God has been badgering me into a corner. Recently I (like Wesley) have discovered that the narrow way is ultimately blocked by a demand for entire sanctification and unless that sacrifice is made there is no way of travelling further. I have preached holiness, campaigned for it, defended it until I am blue in the face but I have not ‘testified to that which I recommend!’ No matter where I have looked all paths of enquiry have led back to holiness.

I have now by God's generous and undesreved grace resolved this matter once for and all and I can say with absolute confidence that God can and does (where he is allowed to) offer his children absolute deliverance from sin. Not just deliverance from the consequences of sin but deliverance from the disease itself.

I have over the last few days been negotiating that stumbling block we call holiness.

I began by making a list of all those things that were obviously sinful in my life and another list of all those things that were doubtful (as recommended by Booth in his ‘Ladder to holiness’.)

The big sins were relatively easy to identify and deal with it was the little compromises that proved awkward (things like taking time and resources from my employer – using the photocopier for personal use etc.) I also found that holiness would not settle for any degree of compromise and that everything however small or ‘doubtful’ had to go. This was a difficult process because some of this sin (especially the doubtful stuff) had embedded itself in my life so completely and needed almost surgical removal - the line between good and bad was at times perilously thin!

Once satisfied that this had been done (fully expecting God to reveal more as time goes on) I renounced all my sin both the obvious and the doubtful.

After that I surrendered everything I have and am to God in a solemn covenant in which I promised (by his grace and in accordance with his word) to obey him at all times and to refrain from all sin.

At last the great transaction was done! I was finally ‘my Lord’s and he was mine!”

Since then – dare I say - I have not sinned – I certainly have not consciously broken a known law of God – sometimes my humanity has caught me napping but generally the spirit via my conscience has been keeping me saved. In addition the desire to sin has vanished – the devil satisfied that I truly have placed all my resources on the altar knows that I have no capital available to spend on disobedience.

It is my firm intention to remain on this path for as long God lets me live – God knows how long it has taken me to find it. The bible tells me that such an ambition is both honourable and possible –for he has promised to keep ‘me blameless’ hallelujah!

I can now (and believe me I will!) preach holiness from a point of experience and with a clear conscience.

As for assurance, I have not had any mega-blessing (as yet) – a couple of delightful ripples have come my way but nothing major –However, I didn’t close the deal in order to get blessed! I did it because God requires holiness in the life of all believers.

Friends, believe me, God can and does deliver us from all sin and keep us blameless, holiness is not an antiquated Victorian form of extreme spiritual masochism it is a basic Christian requirement. It costs absolute renunciation of everything that hinders the work of the spirit and the total surrender of everything to God – but it is well worth the price!

Don’t follow mine or Wesley’s example and take 10 years to discover the blessing of holiness but do it today, every consecrated warrior brings global revival closer because without ‘holiness none shall see the Lord’

I am not merely ‘treated’ by the ‘wounds’ of Christ I am healed! The blood of Jesus is not some kind of spiritual steroid cream that temporarily removes unsightly symptoms it is the ‘balm’ that heals and ‘makes the wounded whole!”

Yours truly set apart by Christ, for the lost, in the Army

A

Time to walk the walk!

I live in two worlds.

In one world my neighbours are Railton, Cadman, Finney, Phoebe Palmer and a host of unknown holy illiterate early Salvationist converts. In this world absolute surrender to God and rigorous separation from the values and fashions of the secular world are the norm. Here entire sanctification is considered a basic requirement of Christianity and an absolute must for Salvationists. In this world total commitment and constant victory over sin is seen as possible, reasonable and essential.

The other world in which I live is The Salvation Army Greater London 2006. Here Entire sanctification is talked about but normally dismissed as unlikely, unreasonable and old fashioned. In its original form it is either dismissed as culturally irrelevant or watered down until it becomes unrecognisable to the holiness preached a hundred years ago. Here people say that the acceptance of TV, Cinema, DVD’s, Sunday sport, cosmetic surgery and greater material wealth etc. means that such extreme commitment just won’t work – this is a world that could easily accommodate the Rich Young Ruler who failed to meet Christ’s expectations.

Last night, being unable to sleep, I asked God to talk to me about this issue. I asked him if old fashioned holiness was still appropriate for today and if so what that actually meant in practice.

Today I had an email from a good friend, who basically seemed to be saying stop discussing, stop researching, stop debating and do it!

This blog is called “Beyond the brook’ a reference to Osborn’s hardcore holiness song. The ‘brook’ the old General was referring to was the brook of Kidron (John 18.1) and it separated Gethsemane from Calvary. I have come to this brook in my own spiritual journey and find myself facing three options; I can retreat, I can stand still or I can cross it and make my way to Calvary.

If I cross it that will mean that I have said yes to the absolute surrender so familiar to those early pioneers, it will mean that I have finally accepted that entire consecration and separation from the values of this world is as relevant today as it has ever been. It will mean that in addition to being saved, justified and baptised in the Spirit I will at last be ‘holy’ – a living sacrifice acceptable to and consecrated by God.

Another lost poem seems to suggest that this struggle has been going on within me for some time!

I am here Lord in that garden fair
Where you struggled hard to conquer your will,
And the trees that shade
Heard the prayers that you prayed
And their leaves gently whisper it still,
"Must I go still further, climbing the distant hill?"

I am here Lord and the flowers bright
Write your answer with their glorious hue,
And the birds that wing
Overhead also sing
Of the things that a saviour must do,
"See he goes still further, climbing the distant hill!"

You are here Lord in the garden fair
Where for many years I've struggled to pray.
And the master’s shout
Tells my soul to come out.
For you've come here to take me away,
And you lead me still further, climbing the distant hill.

If the sentiments expressed in this blog, on my web page, around the internet and in private conversations have been sincere then it is time to get my feet wet. At the end of the day the holiness argument will only be settled by example.

The friend who emailed me quoted from Booth's 'Ladder of Holiness' - seven steps to full salvation (a book I have never come across). Step 1 says, in relation to holiness, "set apart a special time for it's consideration, retiring for the purpose if possible into a place where you can be alone with God - earnestly pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit". This person also pushed me back to Romans 8 (not that I needed much pushing I basically live in this chapter!) This also tied in with a word I received from another good friend some time ago.

I am going to follow this advice and I will not blog again until I have crossed the brook and I am enjoying the blessing of holiness as it was appreciated by Railton et al. Then I can preach what I know, happy and resolved that my gospel is neither extreme nor unreasonable but simply the gospel of Christ unchanged from generation to generation.

Yours soon to be (by the grace of God) fully set apart by Christ, for the lost, in the Army.

A

Lost Poems (2) *

Repentance

My sad soul stoops,
Beneath it's heavy guilt bent double.
As conscience scoops
And prints the headlines of spent trouble.
And once again
Forgotten thorns that hardly scratching
Caused little pain
As gaping wound now cry for patching.

Much more than fear
Must motivate my plea for healing;
More than a tear
That cultivates self-sorry feeling.
I must repent.
The prayers I paid as vain regrets,
The thinking lent
To would-have-beens and fancy frets
I must withdraw.
Then when the whole is reinvested
I may be sure
Sin more than sorrow is detested.

Until that hour
God's grace can only give forgiving.
And selfish power
Will hold another son from living.
For holiness,
(Both root and fruit of true repentance-
Pure selflessness,)
Hates more the crime and less the sentence.


*I recently found an old Amstrad PCW 9512 disc in a box; the disc was simply labelled poems. I found a company in Cornwall who converted the contents of the disc to Word documents I discovered a whole load of poems I had written and lost. Most of these poems were written either just after my conversion (some possibly before).

What does Entire Sanctification practically mean to me?

I am mature enough to know that what I say is not always reflected in what I do - this is especially true when it comes to practical spiritual issues like holiness. However, I am also quite certain that what I say is a real reflection of what is in my heart. The things that matter to me are my wife, my family and our service together within The Salvation Army for the lost.

However my everyday actions - in particular the way I spend my time, money and resources - do not (and certainly) have not always reflected this.

I have read and re-read Chapter 10 of the old doctrine book and I am more convinced than ever that Entire Sanctification is the only possible way forward. I can do nothing and stay where I am but I will not make any further progress without properly embracing Entire Sanctification.

I am willing to admit that I fall well short of this commitment and I know very few people – even those ‘best practice’ Christians we peddle out now and again seem to fall short of this extreme and total surrender.

I am certain that we will not see revival until we put this right. The price of holiness is entire renunciation and consecration, the price of revival is personal holiness. Without this transaction taking place nothing will improve and we will remain an irrelevant and redundant movement within the world.

What does Entire Sanctification practically mean to me?
The following is taken from the old Doctrine Book.

“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.”

Renunciation: Giving up everything opposed to the will of God… must be forever, and it must be entire…including things that are:

· wasteful (of both time and money), injurious … selfish (causing annoyance to others), unnecessary…
· absorb time, thought, and money which could be better employed…
· doubtful (whether connected with mind, body, family, business, recreation, dealings with comrades, or anything else.

The Bible clearly sets forth principles, which should govern the daily conduct of God’s people…

· God’s people should be separate from the world in spirit and conduct.
· Habits, which influence others wrongly, ought to be given up, even though harmless to those who practice them.
· The body is to be honoured and treated as God’s dwelling-place, and hence should not be polluted or injured.

It is reasonable that seekers after Holiness should completely renounce everything wrong or doubtful.

Consecration: The dedication to God of ourselves and all we possess, to live only to please Him and do His will.

Consecration to God must be both entire and real.

· 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.
· not in imagination or sentiment merely, but everything must henceforth actually be used as belonging to God and not to ourselves.
· Consecration is like a sacrifice because by it we give ourselves up to God… a living, not a dead sacrifice.
· Consecration is like crucifixion because it involves painful dying to many things very precious to the natural man…
· When once a man’s possessions have been consecrated to God, he will use them, as God directs him, in the way that seems most likely to advance God’s Kingdom, whether this be by selling all that he does not actually need, and devoting the proceeds to God’s cause right away, or by retaining his property and using in God’s service the income which it brings to him.

Summary

Renunciation means giving up what is against God.
Consecration means giving up all we have to be used for God.
Consecration, although a condition of sanctification, must not be mistaken for sanctification itself. Consecration is an act done by man before God sanctifies him; sanctification is a work done by God within man after man has done his part.”

Conviction + Renunciation + Consecration + Faith + Obedience = Holiness = Revival

A

Lost poems (1)

I recently found an old Amstrad PCW 9512 disc in a box; the disc was simply labelled poems. I found a company in Cornwall who converted the contents of the disc to Word documents I discovered a whole load of poems I had written and lost. Most of these poems were written either just after my conversion (some possibly before). I’m going to post some of them on my blog over the next few days starting with the following:

Just injustice

For every voice that smacks of glamour,
There is a stutter and a stammer.
Divorce, despair, death through miscarriage
The darker side of love and marriage.
Behind each artist's stately swagger,
The sightless, soundless, speechless stagger.
For every 'harvest home' we shout
There's famine, flood, disease and drought.
A cripple sits for every dancer
And little boys still die of cancer.

And God sits on his cloudy throne,
Unseen, unheard. unfelt, unknown,
And all because men wont confess,
When life is bad - God's God no less!
For reasons only known to him
He puts up with the twisted limb.
In full accordance with his plan
He tolerates retarded man,
Acknowledges each cough and sneeze
Each groan and grunt each husky wheeze.

And when I feel that life's unjust,
I'll turn away and cringe and trust.
Though cancer still kills little boys,
We're precious souls not passing toys!

Yours set apart by Christ, for the lost, in the Army!

A

Spiritual formation - a rose by any other name?

As I understand it ‘Spiritual formation’ is the process of being shaped in the image of Christ by the gracious working of God's Spirit, for the transformation of the world. Any movement that encourages Christians to grow, study, pray, and to remember that they are accountable for their life and witness to God has got to be good.

However, ‘Spiritual formation’ is not holiness.

In her book “The Way Of Holiness”, Phoebe Palmer (a big formative influence on Catherine Booth) stresses the instantaneous elements of sanctification to the exclusion of the gradual. She also teaches that entire sanctification is not really the goal of the Christian life, but rather its beginning. This is the holiness teaching upon which early SA ministry was based.

It seems to me that ‘Spiritual formation’ is possibly a tad too slow from a Salvationist perspective. Our job is to save the lost and to provide them with an internal infrastructure that sustains their conversion and allows them to immediately begin leading others to Christ.

One can almost imagine the devil telling his lieutenants “If you can’t stop them becoming Christians at least get them to slow down a bit!” When we sing ‘Glory, glory, Hallelujah I have given my all to God’ it terrifies him if but if we were to sing “Glory, glory, Hallelujah I am thinking about giving my all to God’ he would see that as a victory.

There can of course be a process that leads to absolute surrender and there is definitely a process post absolute surrender but absolute surrender can only occur in an instant. To use Alistair Smith’s analogy “I can’t grow into a coat but I can put a coat on and grow in it!’ Finney would say that someone who has sanctified 95% is not a mature Christian but a rebellious sinner! It might seem harsh to us but that is basically what Christ told the rich young ruler. If ‘Spiritual formation’ has a place in SA teaching it must be as something that occurs post absolute surrender.

Salvationists are among the first to expect God to instantly deal with sins in the life of a new convert like alcoholism, lust, gambling, drug addiction – we teach sinners that God can instantly deliver them from such bondage. However, when it comes to things like anger, pride, bitterness (the things most likely to impact upon us) we quickly retreat into the safety of ‘process’.

I am full of praise for people like Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, Eugene Peterson, and Terry Wardle – at the end of the day contemplative spirituality is better than nothing but in The Salvation Army do we not possess a more rapid form of Christ-likeness?

Yours set apart by Christ, for the lost, in the Army.

A

Evangelism, S&M and the lost.

The Torture Garden is a fetish club in London – anyone who wants to know more can follow the link.

My 23 year old son and his fiancée go there on special occasions (such as the annual Halloween Ball.)

This morning (at 4am) I picked them up from outside and took them to Victoria coach station.

Obviously my giving them a lift in no way endorses their interest in S&M – indeed I find the club and everything it stands for quite repulsive. I give them a lift to the coach station – one, because he’s my son and two, because in doing so I can guarantee that at least one part of the evening is safe.

The Halloween Ball is held in the crypt of a church – the church is still consecrated and 3 hours after the club closes the church opens for communion.

As I sit outside the club I watch lost humanity being washed along in the sewers of self destructive and transitory nihilistic existence. The people spilling out from the club are not all young – indeed many are in their forties. Some seem genuinely happy while others find a quiet corner to throw up and look disappointed.

Brixton High Street at 4am on a Sunday morning is as busy as it might be on a Saturday afternoon. As I watch and wait I realise that Booth’s submerged tenth has become a submerged nine tenths!

It dawns on me that this immoral majority, helpless and lost as they are have no contact with the church commissioned to be their light – indeed like spiritual vampires they sleep while we wake and retreat into the darkness as we move into the light. Railton’s words (from ‘Heathen England and what to do about it’) come to mind that —

“It is useless to shut our eyes to the plain fact that the awful condition of the masses could not possibly continue for so much as twelve months if the people or God were faithful; but in the Master’s own dreadful summing up, “If the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is henceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." Is not this precisely, what we see today?”

As I drive home I ask God to talk to me about the lost, about the past, about the present, about revival… When I get back home I look up the quote, later in the same chapter the old pioneer describes the infant Salvation Army —

“there is not anywhere today another organisation professing to undertake throughout the whole world a scheme of evangelisation specially directed to meet the need of the most abandoned and godless part of the community; and surely, therefore, we may fairly claim to be the Lord's special force raised up for this emergency.”

Then in the holiness meeting at our insignificant Corps in a part of London many have never heard of, Luke a drug addict and alcoholic moves to the Mercy Seat and quietly whispers midst his tears ‘God forgive me and change me’.

I go home with the knowledge that we had ‘one soul’ today, it’s nowhere near enough but it’s a start.

Yours set apart by Christ, for the lost, in the Army

A

Heathen England - Get it while it's HOT!

I have uploaded a full PDF transcript of Railton's 'Heathen England ' - It can be downloaded at

bloodandfire.org.uk

(if the domain name plays up just click on the link)

130 pages of raw blood and fire history - Railton tells it how it is (or how it was and can be)
Study this book and you'll see where we're going wrong and where we could be going right (if we want to!)

Yours

Set apart by Christ, for the lost, in the Army!

A

Holiday Christian Mission Style!

SaturdayI found myself in Tunbridge Wells with two hours to kill so decided to visit Dunorlan Park. Henry Reed the original owner of the Dunorlan estate was a deeply religious man and a good friend of William Booth. In George Scott Railton’s ‘Heathen England’ there is remarkable report concerning a Christian Mission ‘day-out’ held at Dunorlan Park. The full report is at the end of this posting for those who wish to read it.

Basically, William Booth took 1400 recently converted east end roughs to Dunorlan (two train loads!) for a series of prayer and experience meetings, a love feast and a huge tea! Sadly, Mr Reed’s house was destroyed by a fire just after the 2nd world war but the terrace where the love feast was held is still intact. As I walked around the grounds it was very easy to visualise this large group of barely literate new Christians seeing the countryside for the first time in their lives.

To make things even better the day I visited it poured with torrential rain as it did all those years ago!

On a serious note the visit also reminded me once again of the scope and the cost of true revival. Imagine an SA Officer, today, being appointed to plant a corps in Whitechapel and within 15 years he has started not just one Corps but 500 in the UK and 200 overseas and has recruited 1200 full time evangelists (living largely on faith) working in 16 Countries including Australia, India, Canada and the USA. This is what happened in the period 1865 to 1880 – only fifteen years!

How?

The simple answer is that their success was founded upon an entire consecration of all they were and had to ‘the war’ (24/7) and an unlimited and practical belief that God would fulfil his promises instantly (especially his promise to save the lost). One can’t imagine GSR or Elijah Cadman spending 6 nights a week in front of the TV.

Can it be done again? Of course it can and will be done again in our lifetime once we meet the criteria (the work will all be God’s not our own but as with most biblical promises there are conditions which must be met.)

• We must seek forgiveness for personal and corporate sin.
• We must renounce all that is sinful.
• We must renounce all that is doubtful.
• We must detach ourselves from worldly amusement and entertainment.
• We must detach ourselves from materialism and consumption.
• We must adopt simple, uncluttered lifestyles.
• We must pray without ceasing.
• We must look for and pursue instant results.
• We must preach, teach, administer and live holiness.
• We must not compromise.
• We must ‘go out’ and make friends with the marginalized
• We must confront sin in our preaching
• We must remember that there is a judgement and a hell
• We must recognise the need for urgency in our mission
• We must be identifiable (some form of uniform is essential)
• We must adopt the principles of spiritual warfare
• We must love the unlovable
• We must surrender our human rights in sacred trust to God and the Army by way of covenant and be prepared to do all of this on faith alone if necessary

If we ado all of this we will still be way off what our forbears gave in the 1870’s and 80’s but I believe that if we do this (and whatever else God and contingency demand) then we will see revival – Hallelujah!

Are we up for it?

Yours set apart by Christ, for the lost, in the Army!

Andrew

Excerpt from Heathen England Chapter VIII

“But our soldiers must take holiday sometimes perforce; and then they look to the Army to provide them with such holy entertainment as their souls delight in. Services all day long, or, at any rate, during the afternoon, open-air de­monstrations, camp-meetings, expeditions to other stations, or to mission some new neighbourhood, watch nights, all nights of prayer, are some of the entertainments to which Army people treat themselves upon extraordinary occasions.

It was by the kindness of Mr. Henry Reed, then at Tunbridge Wells, that the first grand holiday of the kind was enjoyed as here described by a "Labourer in another part of the vineyard."

"A day in the country, among green fields and shady groves, is no slight privilege to the London artisan and labourer, and to the East End little shopkeeper, whose religious principles keep him from desecrating the Lord's day in suburban tea gardens and skittle grounds. The opportunity of making acquaintance with the beautiful scenery of our native land would mark any day as a 'red-letter day' in the calendar of these sons of toil, but connect with a run into the country for an airing among God's blessed sunshine and health-giving breezes, food and exercise for the soul as well as for the body, ample means or religious enjoyment and solemn worship, and we can hardly conceive a happier blending of good things together, suitable for the twofold nature of the Christian who is alive to God and happy in His love.

"Dunorlan, the seat of Henry Reed, Esq., of' Tunbridge Wells has just offered all this to about fourteen hundred of the members and friends of the Christian Mission. They went down from Cannon Street Station in two trains, on Tuesday morning, the 26th July, in a terrific thunderstorm.

" The first train rolled away with its living burden at a quarter past eight, 'singing all the time,' for from almost every carriage was heard thanksgiving and the voice of melody, notwithstanding the pealing thunder overhead, 'which seemed to draw nearer and nearer at every discharge.

"The storm did not cease for some time, and the rain fell incessantly until the train neared Tunbridge. On arriving at the Wells, all was fair and dry; the soft breezes were delicious, and a screen of light clouds kept off the heat of the sun, but left a cheerful warm light in which the newly washed verdure looked most beautiful.

No time was lost in forming a procession of the two train-loads of passengers, and when fairly in marching order, headed by Mr Reed and Mr Booth, with banners exhibiting precious watch words and texts of Scripture, they commenced their march. The sight, as it ascended the hill leading out of Tunbridge Wells to Dunorlan, was intensely interesting and impressive. The distance to Mr. Reed's estate is about a mile. Over the gate rose the ornamental device ‘Welcome to Dunorlan!’ and a text of gospel truth surmounted each postern. The people sang all the way, displaying none of the disorderly frivolity and senseless antics of dissolute holiday seekers, but filled with a sober joy, that beamed in every eye, and pervaded every look and every act. 'I must do all I can for my Jesus, He has done so much for me,' said one good woman who said she had found Jesus in the cellar; and she told forth her joy and her happiness, her trials and her conquests, to her Christian companions. The same spirit pervaded the whole gatheing throughout the day.

"Assembling first on the lawn in front of Dunorlan mansion, the excursionists were addressed by Mr Booth and Mr. Reed, received certain instructions for their guidance during the day, and were then dismissed, with free permission to visit every part of the grounds, — a boon of no ordinary character to East Londoners for the estate is most beautifully situated, and laid out with classical taste and beauty; and beyond, the farm-fields occupying the ascent in front of the mansion, altogether form a little paradise that to many of the poor people might be almost a foretaste of heaven itself, connected as it was with devotions and thanksgivings rising to heaven from every part into which a company of the excursionists strayed.

“A general adjournment to the farm buildings followed the assemblage on the lawn, for there refreshments were stored by the directors of the Mission, to be sold out at very low prices. Thus fortified, the company broke up again into bands, and, electing different spots, held meetings for prayer and praise all over the grounds. Some few pre­ferred to saunter about and see how all the happy people enjoyed themselves; but the majority joined the devotional parties, and so proved how much their hearts were in the proper work of the Mission. Everybody was happy and in earnest.

"Active preparations for feasting the whole company on the grass in a large field near the farm buildings were commenced at two o'clock, and at half-past two the gong was sounded for all to assemble on the terrace, that, after singing and prayer, they might move off in procession to their proper positions. Now came the chief disappoint­ment of the whole day; The gong had not ceased its call when a few preliminary drops called attention to the gathering blackness overhead, and the mutterings of a thunderstorm; and quickly a very tempest of rain came down. The people fled to the farm buildings for shelter, and filled them all, — barn, cow houses, stables, sheds, a commodious schoolroom or chapel, and some of the houses of the farm servants. 'Room was found for all with a little difficulty, though some who were caught by the rain at a distance were thoroughly drenched.

"It soon became evident that it was no mere passing shower, and measures were taken at once to serve out the tea. The way in which help and means of accommodation were improvised was admirable. Mr. Booth was everywhere, looking into every place, giving counsel, a word of direction, or a hint for arrangement, himself wet through, and profusely perspiring with exertion and anxiety; and what may be said of him is true also of all upon whom the duty devolved of providing for the comfort and pleasure of the multitude, but it was due to the active and wise care and generous preparations of Mr Reed that so much could be done in so short a time to meet the emergency. The good humour of the people under the disappointment was beautiful to witness, adding another proof of the power of Divine grace to soften, refine, and elevate even the roughest and most uncultivated when brought under its influence. As Mr Reed remarked, it was worth all the trouble of altering the arrangements to see how the people bore it.

"For two hours it rained heavily. There seemed no prospect of suitable weather for holding the love-feast on the terrace at half-past four, and therefore the happy, good-tempered, good-humoured people, so soon as tea was over, began prayer-meetings and love-feasts or experience meet­ings where they were. The whole cluster of farm buildings resounded with praise, and many blessed and striking incidents occurred. In one of the cow sheds three seeking souls found their Saviour —were born again in circumstances similar to those which surrounded the lowly birth of their glorious Redeemer — songs and shouts of glory and salvation from the saints around taking the place of the songs of the heavenly host over the plains of Bethlehem. It is impossible to describe the whole scene. Such an exhibition of the power of real religion to control and make happy — seriously, earnestly, joyfully happy — a mixed multitude of all ages, must be seen to be appreciated.

"It became fair between four and five o'clock; and soon after the gong sounded for the love feast on the terrace. Nearly a thousand people assembled, formed a ring round a central spot in which stood Mr. and Mrs. Reed, Mr. Booth, and some of the leaders and preachers, and for nearly two hours some scores of persons testified of the grace of God in their personal salvation and the power of God in con­nection with the work of the Christian Mission. The child of ten or twelve and the aged saint of seventy spoke of their love and devotion to Jesus: the venerable proprietor of the estate, standing in the midst, his white head towering above the majority there, told in simple weighty words what God had done for his soul, and his pious lady thanked the good Father of all even for trials and chastisements through which we are perfected and brought into unison with the spirit of the blessed Jesus. It was difficult to conduct a meeting like this, where hundreds of happy souls were eager to tell of their joy; and it seemed still more difficult to conclude it while scores of precious saints were left with unopened mouth on this great subject. But at length the end came: Mr. Booth's well known voice caned attention to a few brief directions for the return to the train, and with much earnestness and feeling he presented to Mr and Mrs. Reed the grateful thanks of the people for the day's entertainment. This was responded to by the people on one side with uncovered heads and joyous shouts, and by Mr. Reed on the other with a few kind and tender words, recommending ' Jesus only' as their motto, their example and their glory. Like a polite, as well as generous host, Mr. Reed attended his guests to the railway station, and saw them safely depart for London.

"The journey home was in perfect keeping with the entertainment of the day, The voice of prayer and praise resounded from every carriage, and even in the train penitent sinners were being pointed to Jesus. Would to God that such sights and sounds were more common in connection with the excursions of His professed people, but judging from the surprised and puzzled air of the railway officials, such demonstrations on the side of Christ and His gospel do not often come across them. Of one fact this annual excursion furnished most emphatic and glorious proof, that the labours of Mr. and Mrs. Booth and their coadjutors have been abundantly owned in bringing souls to Christ. Such a band of living and earnest believers it was never before our lot to meet in one gathering, and we earnestly commend this blessed work to the sympathy and support of all who love the Lord Jesus and desire the coming of His kingdom.”

Unromantic Revival!

I have recently been coming to terms with the kind of commitment that revival requires from those evangelists caught up in its midst.

The following quote from Railton’s ‘Heathen England’ expresses a bit of what I mean.

“And once a man is laid hold of he must not be let go for an evening. A hundred public-house doors must be passed ere he gets home from his work. His home may have little attraction at any time. Since his conversion it may have become a very nest of hornets to him. If you want to make it possible for such a man to get established in the ways of God, you must not leave him one leisure evening unprovided for. Reading is not likely to be con¬genial to him even if he had anywhere to go where such reading as he now takes pleasure in could be done in peace. To open any good book at home is to raise a hullabaloo of ridicule if not of blasphemy which, no matter how valiantly withstood, must render profitable reading impossible. You cannot, must not hope to lead poor people to heaven unless you lead them daily.

More than that! The man who is daily fought against must daily fight if he would win, and it makes it unspeak¬ably easier to fight all the working hours alone amongst the immense majority who oppose, if he can at least fight a few hours every evening in line with his comrades.

"You were at that ranting-shop last night, then," said his mate to a man the other day. "Yes, and I'm going again to-night," was the overwhelming rejoinder, "and I mean to keep on going every day as long as I live, for God blesses me there."

How much harder it would have been for that man if days intervened between every attendance at the open-air or indoor service, and if thus each fresh visit became like a separate effort with the prospect of new obloquy and difficulty each time!

But once it is a settled matter that he is coming every day to help to oppose sin and get other people converted, the public-house, the club, the social gathering, the worldly entertainment have lost their chance of catching him. He has no time for such trifles. They are gone - left behind. He is "doing a great work and cannot come down."

Are we up for this? Are we ready to be at the Army every night? Are we ready to spend ourselves in hunting out new converts and chasing them down?

Sometimes we talk about revival as if it were some romantic notion – this is probably because we have never experienced it. Revival when it happens (and it will happen in our lifetime) will involve fierce and constant fighting, it will be tiring, costly – not for the faint hearted or lazy but above else immensely satisfying!

Bring it on!

Atheists us and Hell...Professor Richard Dawkins was recently cited as Britain’s top intellectual in an independent Poll carried out by Prospect Magaz

Professor Richard Dawkins was recently cited as Britain’s top intellectual in an independent Poll in Prospect Magazine.

A quick glance at the Professor’s CV would seem to confirm that Mr Dawkins is indeed an impressive individual.

In edition to his own qualifications Professor Dawkins is the holder of 5 honorary degrees from countries across 3 different continents. He isn’t just a professor at any old university but occupies one of the ivory towers at Oxford.

He is a past winner of the Times Literary Prize, the Michael Faraday award, the Humanist of the Year Award, the Shakespeare Prize for his contribution to British culture; he is also a member of the Royal Society.

Since 1979 he has delivered 65 keynote lectures and addresses around the world. He has penned 8 best selling books and his latest book ‘The God dilemma’ is perched at the top of the UK best sellers list where it will probably stay until well after Christmas.

Richard Dawkins is not very complimentary about God or indeed God’s word, in a recent interview with the BBC he described the bible as being

‘just plain weird… a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents, composed, revised, translated, distorted and 'improved' by hundreds of anonymous authors, editors and copyists, unknown to us and mostly unknown to each other, spanning nine centuries.’

In the same interview he goes on to say

“This may explain some of the sheer strangeness of the Bible. But unfortunately it is this same weird volume that religious zealots hold up to us as the inerrant source of our morals and rules for living. Those who wish to base their morality literally on the Bible have either not read it or not understood it…’

It is equally true that the bible is not very complimentary about Professor Dawkins for it says in Psalm 14:1

'The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."’

Yet, to be fair to Richard Dawkins and his fellow atheists it isn’t really God that they have a problem with it is his followers.

God is love and his latest encounter with humanity (the death and resurrection of Jesus) is an act of almost unbelievable and unmerited generosity. Yet in spite of God’s new covenant of grace the adherents of the world’s three main religions, Christianity, Islam and Judaism (all of whom claim to follow the God of Abraham) very often remain characterised by intolerance, sectarianism, cruelty and self-righteousness.

The following quote from Professor Dawkins addresses the recent rise in religious fundamentalism and its political impact upon the contemporary world.

‘Western politicians avoid mentioning the R word (religion), and instead characterise their battle as a war against 'terror', as though terror were a kind of spirit or force, with a will and a mind of its own. Or they characterise terrorists as motivated by pure 'evil'. But they are not motivated by evil. However misguided we may think them, they are motivated, like the Christian murderers of abortion doctors, by what they perceive to be righteousness, faithfully pursuing what their religion tells them. They are not psychotic; they are religious idealists who, by their own lights, are rational. They perceive their acts to be good, not because of some warped personal idiosyncrasy, and not because they have been possessed by Satan, but because they have been brought up, from the cradle, to have total and unquestioning faith.’

It is of course true that no one who calls himself a Christian has a biblical right or a divine mandate to murder anyone – not even those who perpetuate abortion - just as a proper understanding of the Koran cannot provide similar divine authority for suicide bombings. Yet the devotees of the three main Abrahamic religions continue to give their God a bad name.

There are some within the religious right who have already consigned the likes of Richard Dawkins to hell (in spite of Christ’s absolute prohibition on judging others set out in Mathew chapter 7). Yet the bible teaches that Professor Dawkins, like the rest of us, will be judged according to the light that he has received. Again, there are many within the church that will see the Professor’s lack of illumination as being self-inflicted and that he is still therefore likely to burn forever for his militant atheism.

However, can the likes of Richard Dawkins be blamed for possessing a definition of religion which has largely been determined by the behaviour of the religious? In recent years Christianity has excelled at hating the ‘sin’ and miserably failed at loving the ‘sinner’. Adjectives such as intolerant, belligerent, judgmental, homophobic and arrogant have all been accurately used to describe a faith which ought to be more closely associated with words like, humble, loving, inclusive, forgiving, gentle and kind. Are we not called to love the unlovable, to bring the invisible into sight and into mind?

In light of the growth in atheism and indeed the growth in all kinds of immorality and moral anarchy we would all do well to remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:14-16.

“"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

If Professor Dawkins and others like him blame their blindness on the evident inability of God’s people to shine then it may well not be him who finds himself on the downward path to damnation. Didn’t Jesus say something about the last being first?

Yours set apart by Christ, for the lost, in the Army!

Against all odds - a tax on the poor

Britons gambled £50 billion last year - more than the government spent on defence and transport combined. That represents more than £800 for every man, woman and child in the country and is a seven-fold increase on the total gambled in 2001.

· 350,000 Britons admit to having a gambling problem
· Will rise to one million if proposed changes to gambling laws are introduced
· Over £930m was paid out in prizes in Bingo Clubs in 2000
· The Bingo industry made a pre-tax profit of £119m in the same year.
· There are 250,000 slot machines spread across the UK
· New machines with a £500 pay-out allow punters to stake up to £10 per go.
· Britons fed an estimated £10.43bn into slot machines in 2001/02
· That’s an average of £28m a day.
· There are 123 registered casinos in the UK 2nd highest in Europe.
· £3.5bn was exchanged for gambling chips last year in the UK
· The average amount a person spends during a casino trip in the UK is £44
· The amount retained by the casinos each day totalled £1.7m in 2000/01.
· Betting at the bookmakers also amounts to over £1bn.
· Internet gambling ia making it all easier and anonymous.

Railton on gambling:

“You ask me about betting. Betting is universally recognized as a bad and ruinous thing, though none of the silly Governments care to suppress it and the bookmakers, as they ought to do. Betting is money promised for no real equivalent. A bet won means necessarily a bet lost; that is, A takes money from B not for anything supplied to B, but only because a bet has been made. Then this money, not honestly earned, is generally taken away from some worthy object. Betting is, I fear, more widely and radically destructive than drink itself, and renders all who mix in it more and more callous to the losses and sufferings of others.”

“The compulsive gambler dreaming of his yacht…. They need you, they need me, they need Christ…”

I'd be unstoppable if I could get going!

Consecration happens when I am faced with certain choices; I ignore the world, the flesh and the devil and voluntarily submit my free will to God in faithful obedience. Consecration doesn’t happen in the contemporary church as much as it should.

Passages like the following have fallen out of use and are hardly ever preached on today:-

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.” (1 John 2:15-16)

“don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” (James 4:4)

I saw a great plaque the other day – I very nearly bought it – it simply said:-

“I’d be unstoppable if I could get going!”

I believe that this is true for all Christians, for The Salvation Army collectively (in the western territories) and for the wider church. The problem is that to ‘get going’ requires not just sporadic consecration but entire and continuous consecration.

Entire sanctification occurs when I determine that whatever my circumstances my life is entirely set apart for God. It is a ‘crisis’ decision to submit my free will to God in faith – even though I have no idea where that submission will take me or what it will require.

I’m not a bad Christian nor am I a bad Salvationist but ‘I’d be unstoppable if I could get going’.

As Christians we have three choices:

1. We deny God, live lives of hypocrisy and pretend to our friends that we are
   followers of Christ when we know in truth we are not.
2. We live a life of ups and downs with periods of sporadic consecration, yet continue a dalliance with the world – we will have some success but our Christianity will always be mediocre.
3. We determine to entirely consecrate ourselves, taking the gift of salvation to its utmost limit and thereby become ‘unstoppable’.

I have always known that it has to be number 3 or nothing – quite simply it will be holiness or bust there are no other alternatives.

What think ye?

Love and prayers
Andrew

Holiness, hatred and desire...

I read the following passage from Finney’s ‘Lectures to professing Christians’ on Friday last week:

"The individual who truly repents, not only sees sin to be detestable and vile and worthy of abhorrence, but he really abhors it, and hates it in his heart. A person may see sin to be hurtful and abominable, while yet his heart loves it, and desires it, and clings to it. But when he truly repents, he most heartily abhors and renounces it."

As far as I am aware I only disagree with Finney’s theology on one point (original sin). However, I am so impressed with his practical understanding and application of personal holiness that this disagreement only came after much reflection and prayer.

I went to sleep on Friday night pondering the passage above with a degree of sadness wondering about the quality of my repentance. I do hate sin in the lives of others and in the world generally but in my own life there are still some elements of sin that I desire (I resist them but I nevertheless still desire them.) I am subject to temptation and temptation, in order to be effective, must work on the premise of desire. How can I possibly desire something that I am supposed to hate? I fell asleep not only doubting my holiness but even doubting my conversion!

Saturday I had to work and at the end of the day dropped a colleague off at her Office in Tower Hamlets. Finding myself only two miles from Abney Park I decided to spend a few moments in the ‘valley of the dry bones’*. (For those who are interested George is 3rd on the left!)

As I sat there a penny dropped (maybe it was ‘the’ penny that I have been waiting for or maybe another – who knows?) As I sat and prayerfully pondered I began to see that there is a distinct difference between ‘desire’ and ‘love’ in much the same way as there is a distinct difference between love’ and ‘lust’.

By way of example, take Jesus in Gethsemane, he loved his Father and he loved doing his Father’s will. “My food," said Jesus "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” (John 4:34) Yet in spite of this in Gethsemane Jesus had other ideas, these ideas had to be surrendered in obedience to God’s will. We do not know what those ideas were but we do know that they would not (could not) have resulted in our salvation. Failure to deliver salvation must have been a notion that Jesus would have hated. Therefore even Christ could paradoxically ‘desire’ things which were hateful to him. The other thought that came to me is that the very presence of a struggle where a Christian tries to resist temptation surely proves that whatever he ‘desires’ cooperation with the tempter is something he ‘hates’.

This brought me, logically, to a simple definition of holiness that I hadn’t before considered (there is nothing original in what follows although it came to me in a fresh and comprehensible manner.)

Temptation is a three way dialogue between me, the devil and God. The prize sought via the temptation is the consecration of my will. Nobody can make me do anything against my own free will (the devil can’t and God has restricted himself in such a way that he refuses to). The prize, then, that both good and evil are seeking is the voluntary surrender of my free will. If I surrender it to God that results in righteousness and holiness – to surrender it to the devil results in sin. Now, if I genuinely surrender my will to God then temptation disappears in a metaphorical puff of smoke. Once all three parties understand that my will is quite definitely consecrated to God then any further deployment of demonic resources to the struggle would be wasteful. Thus when the devil is convinced that ‘I must be about my Father’s business” he will very quickly leave me ‘for a season’.

One of the fundamental problems with contemporary Christians is that they try to resist temptation without contributing the surrender of their will. There is no biblical promise that guarantees spiritual victory upon the evidence of resistance alone – however in James 4:7 we do read “Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” The order is important, when tempted we must first voluntarily consecrate (submit) our free will to God. Then we must resist the devil (a relatively easy activity if the will has been truly submitted). The result is that the devil, recognising the impossibility of any victory, on this occasion, beats a hasty retreat.

This voluntary consecration of one’s free will to God is the subject of Paul’s message in Roman’s 12 when he says “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.” I have always though that Romans 12:1 was probably the best biblical definition of holiness (after Matthew 22:37).

There is nothing complicated about this, it is simply the enactment of our 9th doctrine “We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ.” What is “continued obedient faith in Christ” other than a constant consecration of our free will to God?

This is probably old hat to many people but I found the whole revelation very exciting and putting it into practice has been even more so. God is so generous; he follows up my confession of a few days ago with a wonderful and simple exegesis on practical holiness – Hallelujah!

* I do not attach any special spiritual significance to the burial place of Booth, Railton, Cadman et al – but I do find the mere presence of their decayed bodies a visible proof that the glory days of the Army were fact not fiction! This knowledge seems to clarify my thinking and intensify my praying.

Yours set apart, by Christ, for the lost, in the Army.

Andrew

Obedience matters

Following on from the debate at Carol’s yesterday and within the context of my own confession (see below) Iread the following this morning from Finney’s “Lectures to professing Christians’

“all true religion consists in obedience. And, therefore, however much you may approve of Christianity, you have no religion unless you obey it. In saying that all religion consists in obedience, I do not mean outward obedience. But faith
itself, true faith, works by love, and produces corresponding action. There is
no real obedience but the obedience of the heart: love is the fulfilling of the
law; and religion consists in the obedience of the heart, with a corresponding course of life. The man, therefore, who hears the truth, and approves it, and does not practice it, deceiveth himself. He is like the man beholding his natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and
straightway forgetteth what manner of a man he was.”

Enough said.

Yours set part by Christ, for the lost, in the Army

Andrew

A confession and a call to arms

I have been outside of covenanted ministry for nearly 17 years. Last May I received a letter from my Divisional Commander informing me that my application to return to Officership had been accepted and it was presumed that I would take up an appointment in July 2007.

This news followed a number of ‘words’ and ‘messages’ from various sources indicating that God wanted to do something significant with what was left of my useful life! Especially in relation to The Salvation Army.

I completely underestimated the intensity of demonic backlash that was about to come my way as a result of this news. Indeed with a naïve arrogance I hadn’t anticipated any kind of demonic response whatsoever.

I have just read David Wilkerson’s ‘Hungry for more of Jesus’ (available for about £3 from Amazon). I read it hot on the heels of Finney’s ‘Systematic Theology’ and the two men say very much the same thing (though Wilkerson is a lot easier to digest!)

Wilkerson, however, adds a section on ‘sifting’ where he talks about those occasions when the devil asks God if he can ‘sift us like wheat’ as he did with Peter.

When I received the news of my reacceptance I published a holiness manifesto (see bloodandfire.org.uk) which pledged me to a simple lifestyle. At the same time I wrote an article for JAC that sought to promote the manifesto to others. On reflection I do not think this manifesto was legalism or an attempt at salvation by works. I believed then and I still believe that it was an honest response to a clear direction from God.

On the Armybarmy.com blog I recently read that “blogs have become the place to expose intimate and sensitive thoughts…” well here goes…

I need to confess – and I can’t think of a better medium by which to do it – about the compromise and deliberate disobedience that has been in my life as a result of being ‘sifted’ and at the same time being too arrogant and proud to recognise what was going on. Since that declaration my life has moved from fudge to further fudge and my lifestyle has been anything but simple. The odd thing is that I cannot recall a period in my life when I have been the recipient of so much revelation and knowledge yet my willingness to obey has been derisory!

In short the devil has walloped me and I have sat there and taken it. I have allowed myself to become his punch bag. The gulf between what I know God wants, what I preach and what I do has grown as a result.

Jesus knew that Peter would betray him when he gave him the keys of the kingdom. Jesus also knew that Peter would come back stronger and fitter as a result of having the stuffing (pride) knocked out of him. John Wesley described Fletcher of Madeley as the holiest man he ever knew yet Fletcher claimed that he lost the blessing of holiness three times. David was considered Israel’s greatest king - to such an extent that ‘son of David’ is a Messianic title - yet David fell away.

I believe more than ever that God wants me to ‘talk the talk’ but I also know that more than that he needs me to ‘walk the walk’, I have also discovered (at my cost) that it seems like the entire armies of hell are assembled in an attempt to prevent both from happening.

Wilkerson has shown me that I have been in danger of serious back sliding but he has also grabbed my hand and pulled me back from the brink.

Carol Young quoted the following on her blog today ‘"Jesus can't save someone he can't command." One thing is absolutely certain Jesus cannot entirely sanctify someone who refuses to obey.

Now enough of this self centred deprecatory rambling and on with the fight.

Take this as a confession, an apology and a re-consecration of my all, in deep humility, to the cause of Christ and the lost. Also take it as a call to arms and a warning – the devil is on the prowl and after anyone who poses a serious threat and adopts a careless attitude to warfare.

The holiness debate will never be won with words it can only be won by example.

Just as the ‘Greeks have a word for it’ so Wesley always has a song!

Leave no unguarded place,
No weakness of the soul;
Take every virtue, every grace,
And fortify the whole.

To keep your armour bright
Attend with constant care,
Still walking in your captain's sight
And watching unto prayer.

That, having all things done,
And all your conflicts past,
Ye may o'ercome through Christ alone,
And stand complete at last.

Love and prayers
Andrew

The unforgiving minutes...

I have just downloaded my Blog and converted it to a Word Document.

Since February I have amassed an amazing 103 A4 pages of musings!

Goodness knows how much of cyberspace has been occupied by the likes of Steve C and Gordon C!

103 pages is alomost a book - I've been trying to finish a book on holiness for 6 years!

It reminded me of some wise words from the pen of Kipling...

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

How often we are held hostage by the 'unforgiving minute' when all the time the keys to our cell are hanging on the wall behind us!

In a life that is entirely consecrated there should be no 'unforgiving minutes'

God forgive me for wasting what is probably the most valuable resource I have - time!

Are we up for it?

I have just finished reading Finney’s ‘Systematic Theology’. It is the literary equivalent of an arduous triathlon across inhospitable conditions. Finney is an acquired taste but for those that persevere a definite delicacy.

The book is challenging partly because it was written in 1851 and the language is archaic, it is (as its name suggests) theology and it is also academic (Finney was a lawyer).

However, the message it contains is so relevant to the contemporary church and especially to The Salvation Army. The protestant free church has because of its absolute fear of ‘salvation by works’ relegated obedience to the lowliest of positions in the pecking order of Christian characteristics. It is (in my opinion) this very reason that we are currently facing such struggles.

In summary this is what Finney has to say:

• Sin is the result of misplaced free will and not the result of any kind of intrinsic of inherited evil nature.
• Righteousness is ‘disinterested benevolence’ i.e. an intelligent decision to love God and love our neighbour for the sole benefit of God and our neighbour rather than for any personal satisfaction or gain.
• Sin is selfishness (the opposite of ‘disinterested benevolence’)
• Some apparent acts of kindness may actually be selfish and therefore sinful rather than righteous (‘even though I surrender my body to be burned… but have not love...’ etc)
• Holiness (righteousness) is the minimum requirement God makes upon his children and can only ever be complete (for Finney there is no such thing as Christianity by degrees)
• Holiness is the outcome of a deliberate consecration of all our faculties to the glory of God and the betterment of the universe. Though impacted by physical constitution, emotions, circumstances (etc) holiness is not subject to nor caused by any of these things but is always the result of a deliberate wilful and intelligent dedication.
• Entire consecration is subject to revelation and knowledge – the more I get to know God the more he will demand and the more I will be required to give, however consecration will always be instant and complete based upon the knowledge and revelation I currently have.
• If I offer God partial obedience then the part of my life I fail to surrender exists as a result of disobedience, disobedience is sin and an active sinner cannot be saved because Salvation is conditional upon both repentance and obedience (‘continuance in a sate of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith…) Logically therefore Salvation is dependant upon total consecration.
• Present sinlessness is both possible and obligatory as anything else suggests disobedience and a lack of repentance.
• All of this is made possible by grace which is delivered by the Holy Spirit through faith. True faith always bears the hallmark of obedience (“If you love me you will obey my commandments and I will send another, a comforter…”)

This is the briefest and shallowest of summaries of Finney’s ‘Systematic Theology’ but it does contain in essence the heart of Finney’s understanding of the gospel.

At the conclusion of the book Finney makes the following statement:

“But before I close my remarks upon this subject, I must not fail to state what I regard as the present duty of Christians. It is to hold their will in a state of consecration to God, and to lay hold on the promises for the blessing promised in such passages as 1 Thess. v. 23, 24:--"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." This is present duty. Let them wait on the Lord in faith, for that cleansing of the whole being which they need, to confirm, strengthen, settle them. All they can do, and all that God requires them to do, is to obey him from moment to moment, and to lay hold of him for the blessing of which we have been speaking; and to be assured, that God will bring forth the answer in the best time and in the best manner. If you believe, the anointing that abideth will surely be secured in due time.”

Dear friends I ask you - Is this what has been missing from our gospel? Is this what we desperately need to rediscover and preach? Is the absence of constant and entire obedience in the lives of Officers and Soldiers the ‘sin in the camp’ that we hear so much about today?

This book (I believe) has been to me what ‘A plain account of Christian Perfection’ was to Wesley. I feel that it has handed down a nugget that was nearly lost forever. The nugget needs to be shaped and polished and exhibited to the world so that everyone can be cleansed, challenged and inspired by its beauty.

When will we learn that we are not unsuccessful because we wear the wrong clothes, sing the wrong songs, play the wrong instruments, call each other by the wrong names or print the wrong publications? Our problem is not that we are not culturally relevant (look at our history and you will see that we never were! How was GSR standing on a street corner preaching to a drunken, illiterate costermonger – who had never heard of Christ – ever culturally relevant?) Our problem is not to be found in the fabric of our organisation, it is not infrastructure or style but is much more fundamental and personal than that.

Our problem is SIN and our sin is a refusal to give God what we know he requires and to even suggest (in spite of that knowledge) that the requirement is unrealistic and unobtainable. The Salvation Army is a band of covenanted warriors who have surrendered everything they have to the glory of God and the salvation of the world – anything less than that is a lie and to defend any lesser definition is sinful.

There is only one way forward – renunciation of everything that we know to be sinful, renunciation of everything that is considered to be doubtful, consecration of everything to God, and then (in faith) to go on our way and ‘sin no more.”

I wonder are we really up for this? The salvation of The Salvation Army hangs on our answer.

Yours set apart by Christ, for the lost, in the Army.

AJB

Back in the saddle!

I have not blogged for 25 days 6 hours and 45 minutes! I am now back in the saddle - watch this space!

Yours set apart by Christ, in the Army, for the lost.

Railton's Rest

Off to Margate for a two week break. When he wasn't travelling the world for Jesus this was where Railton rested. Margate was his local Corps and this was where he had his family home. Decided to read Finney's Systematic Theology while I'm here.

Had a phone call from'M' this morning - she has been living with us for 4 months but she is now back home in Tobago with her new baby.

Obviously no Blogs for two weeks.

Toshers!

I was recently putting together a Power Point presentation for a talk on the history of waste disposal (oh the joy of secular employment!)

I was preparing a slide on 'toshers' and 'scavengers'.

Both of these occupations existed in 18th and 19th Century Britain.

"Toshers" worked in the sewers, a dangerous and smelly way to make a living, but lucrative as they found coins, bits of metal, ropes and bones and sometimes jewellery. "Mud-larks" scavenged on the river banks, and made a comparatively poor living. "Scavengers" used to dig through midden heaps (piles of decaying refuse - including sewage - at the end of a street) to find things to sell.

I was looking for suitable pictures that would illustrate these three archaic occupations - thinking that the best I could secure would be some Victorian engravings - when up popped all three occupations alive and well in the developing world.

Wouldn't it be great if the 2 billion or so nominal Christians on the planet were 'moved by compassion' and decided to do something for the 'widows and orphans' (not forgetting the hungry and oppressed) in this world.

"Unless I am moved with compassion
How dwelleth they spirit in me?
In word and in deed burning love is my need,
I know I can find this in thee."

Yours, set apart by Christ, for the lost, in the Army.

Sing a new song unto the Lord?

I received a copy of ‘The Red Book Sessions” by “The Singing Company” yesterday. You can get your own copy here. It is an excellent CD and I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to it – I have to say that as a middle-aged Englishman some of the voices are a required taste but once the ear becomes acclimatised the end result is inspiring.

I have had concerns for some time know about the quality of some of our contemporary worships lyrics. A few years ago (round about the time that the Berlin wall collapsed and the Cold War ended) the Army’s exclusive use of the official song book in worship ended. Now when you visit a Corps you cannot assume that the ‘song book’ is the automatic first choice of the congregation (in some Corps it is not used at all.)

This is not just a shame it is a tragedy. Whilst I enjoy singing contemporary worship songs, especially songs like “The power of your love”, “All I once held dear” and “Refiner’s Fire” the available repertoire has a big hole in it which could be plugged by the use of the ‘song book’.

Generally speaking, most modern Christian songs could be accurately categorised as “Praise and Worship” – nothing wrong with that, indeed the arrival of some of these songs has been a timely reminder to The Salvation Army of the need to worship. However, contemporary worship songs are short on sentiments like; consecration, commitment, personal holiness, sacrificial living, obedience, evangelical urgency, intercession – indeed many modern worship songs enable the singer to spend a few minutes away with angels, before the throne, without having to consider the quality of their own life in terms of practical Christianity at all.

The Salvation Army has rich (maybe even unique) heritage among the churches for producing songs that challenge and inspire the singer. A good example and one of my personal favourites would be Walker’s classic (SASB 482)

"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.”

Incidentally I don’t know if Walker was a Salvationist but the important thing is that his sentiments have been preserved in our song book. Now I am told by people (better qualified than me) that this song is no longer culturally relevant and is incomprehensible to younger generations. That may well be true but the sentiment remains valid and is absent in the vast majority of modern worship songs.

Another example (used by “The Singing Company”) would be Robert Johnson’s (SASB 696)

“See the brazen hosts of Hell,
Their art and power employing,
More than human tongue can tell,
The blood-bought souls destroying.
Hark! from ruin's ghastly road
Victims groan beneath their load;
Forward, O ye sons of God,
And dare or die for Jesus.”

I recently had a conversation with one of the organisers of Roots UK and asked him why we rarely sing a Salvation Army song at Roots (there is almost an unwritten policy at Roots UK that the official songbook is not used!). The answer I received was fairly predictable and mirrored the opinion voiced above that such songs are largely incomprehensible to young people and those outside our ranks. Incidentally when I questioned the inclusion of the song “Be thou my vision” surprise was registered at the fact that the song had originally been written in the 8th Century (and only translated into ‘modern’ English in 1905)

I suppose the solution is to write new songs which contain the sentiments of active commitment, practical holiness, love for the lost, the struggle for social justice, urgency etc but dressed up in contemporary words. We need modern Salvation Army songs that remind the church of their need for consecration and holiness in much the same way they reminded us of our need to worship.

If anyone is interested I could write the lyrics but sadly I am to musical composition what GSR is to nominal Christianity – if any budding musicians would like to help then email me at abale@ntlworld.com and we’ll see what we can do.

Yours, set apart by Christ, for the lost, in the Army
A

You will obey!

I have been reading Andrew Murray’s "Power for your life" – it is a challenging and practical book on the church’s essential need for a Pentecostal baptism of the Holy Spirit, Murray says

“The most essential element of the true Church after Pentecost is a membership baptised with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Every heart was filled with the experience of the presence of the glorified Lord. Every tongue and life witnessed to the wonderful work God had done in raising Jesus to glory and then filling his disciples with that glory. The baptism of power is not just for preachers, but for every individual member of Christ’s body. This will draw the attention of the world and compel confession to the power of Jesus.” (Andrew Murray: Power for your life, chapter 6)

Murray also stresses the importance of obedience as a condition which must be met prior to any such baptism. This has been particularly relevant for me. Having been brought up in a free church protestant tradition ‘obedience’ was always seen as something of a dirty word. Faith has always been pushed to the fore with obedience being forced to sit in the back where he can be monitored with the suspicion he deserves. I have always puzzled over this – of course faith is important, it is essential but what is the hallmark of faith? How do we know that faith is real and not just some token intellectual acknowledgement of Christ’s lordship? True faith will always deliver obedience and obedience will qualify us to receive Pentecostal power.

“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. (James 2:14-18)

"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.” (John 14:15-17)

God has taught me (not just through this book) that obedience is essential, obedience is the key that unlocks his power and blessings, if we want ‘another Pentecost’ then we will get it when we show some determined ‘obedient faith’.

Without obedience God can give us nothing, as Christians, faith in Christ is the fuel of our obedience, faith comes by hearing and doing. I think we’ve done quite a lot of hearing (although it might be better described as navel-contemplating) perhaps it is time to ‘do’

As the old song says…

“If you want boldness, take part in the fight;
If you want purity, walk in the light;
If you want liberty, shout and be free;
Enjoying a full salvation.”

Yours set apart by Christ, for the lost, in the Army.

A

Young's analytical discourse on deceiving hearts...

Carol Young has set my mind working overtime…

I am committed to seeing proper personal holiness re-established in The lives of ordinary Salvationists and I accept Railton’s definition of holiness:

“I conclude that to be holy is simply to be given up to God, and that man cannot become holy in any other way than by giving himself up, and not only wishing to become, but becoming wholly the Lord’s.” (GSR Christian Mission Magazine May 1873)

Carol raises an important point about the heart’s ability to deceive, and says…

"I am delving into "heart matters" at the moment which you can read about on my blog. The Bible tells us that the heart is deceitful above all things. With that in mind I am sure that we can kid ourselves quite easily about the level of our devotion and even really mean it when we say that we give our all. We just don't expect God to take us that seriously or realise how precious something is to us until we are at the point of letting it go. We can then wriggle out of turning our words into action quite easily by comparing ourselves with others."

It is certainly difficult to place the ‘consecration’ bit of ‘entire consecration’ into a contemporary setting. What does it mean to surrender all in the 21st century? These are old questions and the debate has rattled on for years. However, there are some pointers we should heed, for example take ‘worldliness’ - in 2000 years of Christianity worldliness was always seen as something that should be avoided but in the last 50 years it has dropped off the radar completely! Was the church wrong? Is morality determined by the attitude of society rather than by the bible?

I recently read the following in Isaiah 1:16-17

“wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.”

This verse (for me) settles the crisis/process debate once and for all. I can’t stop doing something by degrees – fulfilment of the command ‘stop’ must include actual cessation! Neither can I ‘learn’ instantly. Stopping should be instant (crisis) and learning should be gradual (process). There is so much biblical support for this view one could write a book on it!

The ‘sin’ that Israel was guilty of was largely two-fold, idolatry and a lack of concern for the marginalized – the prophets are full of this stuff.

The problem we have is that our definition (or maybe I should say appreciation) of holiness has been largely shaped around our moral history rather than God’s power . Herbert B. puts it very well – “All the memories of deed gone by, rise within me and thy power deny”. As a result of our inability to be good and because we see no one else being good we think that goodness (this side of the Jordan) is something we should strive for rather than expect to achieve.

Carol is right to mention the unreliable nature of the heart and that is why holiness depends upon God fulfilling his promise in Ezekiel (11:19-20)

“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.”

However, as with most biblical promises there are conditions attached and in the preceding verses we read…

“And you will know that I am the LORD, for you have not followed my decrees or kept my laws but have conformed to the standards of the nations around you." (verse 12)

“They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols.” (verse 18)

We are in a catch 22 situation! In order to obey we need a new heart, in order to get a new heart we have to repent, repentance means a practical commitment to obedience… but we will always struggle to obey from out of an old heart. Where do we go from here – I would suggest Romans 8!

• God’s not going to condemn us for trying (verse 1)
• If we fail along the way Jesus has carried the can for us (verses 3-4) ).
• We must yield to the Spirit (verses 9-17).
• We must faithfully obey (the whole chapter!)

With the comfort of knowing that we are allowed to ‘learn to do good’ and with the awareness that we must immediately stop ‘doing wrong’ let’s (in faith) dump everything we know is wrong and consecrate everything that is left as and when we are prompted – once we ask God to define ‘all’ it’s amazing how quickly he starts to demand - in fact in some cases the whole ‘process’ can take place in a moment.

This is an important debate and coming to the proper conclusions will determine how quickly we are allowed to enjoy the revival which we are all so eagerly waiting for!

Yours, set apart by Christ, for the lost, in the Army. A

Saviour while my heart is tender...

Saturday night - Commissioning - Wembley Conference Centre (no air conditioning!) - hot - humid - late...

I notice that my nephew, who's Mum and Dad split up last year, is getting into the prayer meeting (he's twelve)... I ask him if he'd like to go to the cross and pray? I'm not sure which comes first the enthusiastic yes, the tears or the enormous look of relief on his face.

We go and pray, I pray for him as I would pray for an adult, I lay hands on him and sense God's power moving down my arm, through my fingers and into his young frame. The tears flow, the spirit flows and Danny verbalises his own prayer - God hears and responds.

Later in the evening he says to my wife "when I was at the Mercy Seat I felt the power of God come down and claim me" Hallelujah!

The same night, my youngest daughter Bethany asks to go to the cross and pray I take her by the hand and as we walk down the steps she looks up at me and says "I know what I want to do with the rest of my life - I want to be an Officer" - she is 8 in September!

Then this morning I read Gordon's blog and discover that God was moving in the hearts of other children too.

Then on my way to work my IPOD delivers the following song...

Saviour, while my heart is tender,
I would yield that heart to thee;
All my powers to thee surrender,
Thine and only thine to be.
Take me now, Lord Jesus, take me,
Let my youthful heart be thine;
Thy devoted servant make me,
Fill my soul with love divine.

Send me, Lord, where thou wilt send me,
Only do thou guide my way;
May thy grace through life attend me,
Gladly then shall I obey.
Let me do thy will, or bear it,
I would know no will but thine;
Shouldst thou take my life, or spare it,
I that life to thee resign.

May this solemn consecration
Never once forgotten be;
Let it know no alteration,
Registered, confirmed by thee.
Thine I am, O Lord, forever,
To thy service set apart;
Suffer me to leave thee never,
Seal thine image on my heart.

The tears flow again... this time they're mine.

Yours set apart by Christ, for the lost, in the Army.

Andrew

Do we really mean it

I have just returned from the UK Commissioning – an uplifting, challenging and inspiring weekend. There were many moments of real anointing (not just high emotion but genuine invasions of the soul by God the Holy Spirit!). The preaching in particular (from Cmmrs John and Betty Matear and Lt-Colonel Vic Poke) was perceptive, incisive and showed real evidence of discernment, passion and courage.

However… there were two moments during the weekend when I felt a divine frown – maybe even a bit of a glower from on high.

The first was the declaration of faith made by the Captains to be, I am sure everyone meant what they said and I have no reason to doubt their wholehearted acceptance of the doctrines – yet if you dip into any of the many SA discussion forums that are around or hang out at an Officer’s fellowship it will not before long before you hear Officer’s openly challenging – even dismissing – some of the doctrines. In particular doctrines 1, 5, 9, 10 and 11 seem to be considered optional by many of those who bear the red felt on their shoulders.

The second came when the congregation sang:

All my days and all my hours,
All my will and all my powers,
All the passion of my soul,
Not a fragment but the whole
Shall be thine, dear Lord,
Shall be thine, dear Lord.

The use of words like ‘all’ and ‘whole’ make this a real Railtonian commitment to all-out, no-holds barred, life or death warfare. This is not an itsy-bitsy, namby-pamby, limp-wristed, half hearted wink in the direction of consecration – this is hardcore holiness.

I wonder how many who sang the chorus genuinely meant it? If the truth were known then the passion, time and powers of the average Salvationist is shared out between TV, sport, materialism, leisure, and personal ambition (etc. etc.) with what’s left being tossed in the direction of nominal Christianity. The bulk of us are like the Jews of Hosea’s day (8:2-4):

“Israel cries out to me, 'O our God, we acknowledge you!' But Israel has rejected what is good.”
Whilst moved and pumped up and enthusiastic and left chomping at the bit by the two days these two occasions made me smart . Do we honestly think that God is going to honour such blatant hypocrisy? What must he think when he hears our words and at the same time sees where our priorities lie.

Maybe we should have sung the following instead:

“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.”

I remain set apart by the grace of Jesus for God in the Army for life!

Andrew

Confession...

Yesterday I lost my temper with my 10 year-old daughter. I don't mean that I got angry I mean that I lost my temper.

It was all to do with 'missing' homework (and needless to say it wasn't the first time we had this conversation). It all started reasonably enough but within minutes slipped into an undignified shouting match. Basically, she had lost her homework but blamed her Mother for the loss - "I left it on the desk a week ago and Mum has moved it! She has lost my homework!"

I was ashamed at the way I behaved - I didn't hit her, I didn't swear, I wasn't rude and I didn't let the sun go down on my wrath - but I was so angry (too angry!).

It was a painful reminder that holiness is still not complete in my life - I need more prayer, more surrender and more faith.

Even now 24 hours later I still feel mortified about how angry I became.

I am one of the calmest most patient men you could ever meet - nothing ruffles me, I simply take it all in my stride - but when I blow I make up for all those years of calmness. Just because a sinful tendency sleeps in the depths of our heart like a sting ray that doesn't make us righteous.

Holy Christians should never lose control and I did - I wasn't completely out of control (I knew when to stop) but my anger climbed to a pitch which is quite unacceptable.

God has forgiven me, my daughter has forgiven me (and apologised for being the spark that lit the touch paper) and eventually... I will forgive myself.

In the meantime - "Give me a holy life spotless and true!"

Love and prayers

Andrew

I took my children to see the latest Dreamworks animated adventure ‘Over the hedge’ on Saturday. At one point a racoon is introducing a group of forest animals to the delights of urban living – he takes them on a tour of food.

“They always got food with them. We eat to live - these guys live to eat! Let me how you what I'm talking about! The human mouth is called a 'piehole', the human being is called a 'couch potato'. That is a device to summon food (points to a telephone). That is one of the many voices of food (Pizza restaurant responds). That is the portal for the passing of food (front door). That is one of the many food transportation vehicles (Pizza delivery moped). Humans bring the food, take the food, ship the food, they drive food, they wear the food!

That gets the food hot! (Points to microwave) That keeps the food cold! (Points to fridge) That, I'm not sure what that is (points to whipped cream in a spray can) . Well, what do you know? Food! That is the altar where they worship food! (Shows a family saying ‘grace’) That's what they eat when they've eaten too much food! (Shows a glass of Alka-Seltzer) that gets rid of the guilt so they can eat more food (points to an exercise bike)! Food! Food! Food! Food! foooood! So, you think they have enough? Well, they don't. For humans, enough is never enough! and what do they do with the stuff they don't eat? They put it in gleaming silver cans, just for us! Dig in!”

I think it speaks for itself and needs no further comment but for those who need a bit of a nudge try the following from Isaiah 58:6-10

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. "

Yours set apart for Jesus

A

Some people think it's all over... it is now!

When England were inevitably knocked out of the World Cup on penalties I felt a surprising yet enormous sense of relief.

Once an ardent soccer fan, (like all Londoners I have followed Manchester United since I was six). I had more or less lost interest in football. On the one hand it seemed like a waste of my time and on the other hand there were issues surrounding the game that made me feel better off away from it.

When the World Cup arrived my interest was temporarily resurrected – but there was a distinct difference about the way I felt. There was a deep sense of discomfort within me as I began to familiarise myself with the ins and outs of England’s chances.

I wasn’t comfortable with the knowledge that English football fans (among those from other countries) would be serviced by upwards of 40,000 trafficked prostituted women. I wasn’t comfortable with the thought of replica squad shirts and footballs being manufactured in Asian sweat shops by child slaves. I wasn’t comfortable with yet one more display of decadence and self-indulgent materialism, by the west, in a world of hunger, poverty and social injustice.

Yet I allowed myself to be sucked in and I watched the games. The discomfort never left me and I felt nagged throughout the three weeks to turn of the TV and go and do something useful. I suppose (for me) it was a sin – to clearly hear the voice of God calling something into question and to ignore that voice – I am not saying that watching football is sinful but that my association with the World Cup was a serious compromise. Hence my relief when it was all over.

I came to the conclusion a long time ago that if God is going to do with my life what he wants to do then he needs everything – every minute, every penny, and every influence. Without wishing to liken my self to William Booth and Christmas I shall definitely never spend another June like this!

I think I seem to remember reading the following somewhere…

Called by God to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as an officer of The Salvation Army, I bind myself to him in this solemn covenant:

• to love and serve him supremely all my days,
• to live to win souls and make their salvation the first purpose of my life,
• to care for the poor, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, love the unlovable, and befriend those who have no friends,
• to maintain the doctrines and principles of The Salvation Army and,
• by God’s grace, to prove myself a worthy officer.

May God forgive me for compromise and help me to willingly, moment by moment surrender my all. Passion is a rare and valuable commodity these days and I pray that I never pour it out on the ‘high place’ of football again.

A