Holiness as it happens…

In May 2006 God called me to a very clear and specific lifestyle. I believe it was the 'fasted lifestyle' that Court and Munn refer to in their excellent book 'The Uprising'. It was the lifestyle alluded to in Booth's vision. It was the same lifestyle reflected in the life of St Francis and George Scott Railton. It is a lifestyle that it is completely and utterly absorbed by God and totally lost in his love.

May God forgive me for the length of time I have spent prevaricating over this clear and concise call.

Talk about vacillating – my life - since receiving this call, has been a rollercoaster of commitment, obedience and victory followed by the plummeting and hellish compromise that is always the ultimate consequence of disobedience. I have lost count of the number of times I have blogged about being 'in a corner'!

Tonight, in my study, I engaged in the most titanic struggle with the evil one. How he longs to cling to my life and retain lordship… all he needs is a 'foothold'. Like the rich young ruler I could excel in righteousness to the point of lacking just one thing – but my failure to surrender that one thing would be all Satan needs to retain ownership. I cannot say that the battle is won for I feel that these deep-seated and battle hardened monsters will not leave simply because of a few words. They need to see 'fruit that proves my repentance'and by God's grace they will!

We stumble not over the 'sinful things' but over the 'doubtful things'. I am fed up of stumbling! I am not on this planet for me; my object in life is not to fulfil my own ambitions but to be a tool in God's hands for him to do with as he pleases!

My life, thoughts, hopes, influence, words, money, time, resources, passion – these things are mine to do with as I see fit. I have just two choices (for those spiritual powers who battle for my soul will not allow me to retain rights of ownership) – I either commit myself fully and unreservedly to God or I slip into the hand of the enemy. In war one cannot hope to survive for very long in no man's land!

How can I possibly refrain from making the commitment that God so obviously requires?

I here and now renew the promises I made in my Soldier's covenant and in my Officer's covenant and I add to those solemn undertakings a commitment my own God-given holiness manifesto.

I do this because I must, because I have no option, because I am compelled by God's love and all of heaven's might.

It is quite literally 'holiness or hell' not just for me but for the thousands of people that God longs to reach through me.

I sincerely ask those who know me, either via the internet, or personally to keep me accountable to these promises and challenge me whenever it seems evident that I am slipping into the comfortable arms of second-rate consecration.

Love and prayers

A

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

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

Sadly, I have fallen well short of my self imposed standards, however, as recently stated here, the conviction that created those resolutions has not gone away but intensified.

I have carefully and prayerfully reviewed my manifesto and publish the revised version here. I ask those who know me to make me accountable by challenging me if I appear to live outside of these parameters.

I believe that contemporary western Salvationists are generally guilty of Achan’s sin (Joshua 7) in that we have “taken some of the devoted things; we have stolen, we have lied, we have put them with our own possessions.” As a consequence of this we “cannot stand against our enemies; we turn our backs and run because we have been made liable to destruction.” As we seek and pray for revival I believe that God’s response is very clear to those who are willing to hear – “I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.”

Historically, holiness was the source of our phenomenal success and in the future it will be so.

Thanks to those challenges and words of encouragement that followed my last posting - thank you for your prayers and your love. Let us constantly pray for each other that God might give us the ability to see and hear him, the discernment and knowledge to decipher what he is saying and the courage to obey – Amen!

My Personal Holiness Manifesto

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

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

Love and prayers

A

Anonymous hits the nail on the head!

In my previous post I mentioned the deliberate sin that is committed by those (Officers and soldiers) who try and serve God with deliberately broken vows.

The comments of 'anonymous' would carry far more weight if he/she were to back up their posting with a name - however the point made is extremely valid and I am grateful to 'anonymous' for the reminder.

One thing, however - like all Salvationists and Officers there have been (and undoubtedly will be) times when I fall short of the promises contained in my covenants but there is a difference between failing, repenting and reconsecrating and deliberately breaking a promise because you think it is no longer valid or because you think the promise is wrong but do not have the courage to renounce it.

I may not always be true to the letter of my holiness manifesto but I am always true to its spirit. What would be really bad would be to attach my name to it whilst actively believing it to be wrong - that would be pointless as well as stupid.

I'm glad I published the manifesto as it will (and already has) increased my acountability.

Thanks anonymous for speaking out.

One last thing - making vows that increase our accountability to God and each other is not the same as legalism - the manifesto 'is not an attempt to earn God’s blessing but is a response to blessings already received, it is not an attempt to win ‘salvation by works’ it is a commitment to see God’s words reflected in my actions.'

Love and prayers

A