Hell and damnation!

The other day while I was standing in the High Street selling ‘The War Cry’ the penny dropped (and I don’t mean into my tin).

I was watching people walk by, praying for them and trying hard to catch their eye and at the same time was wondering about their eternal destiny. The early Salvationists had no doubt whatsoever that the world was lost; such a sentiment is reflected in our doctrines ‘we believe that all men… are justly exposed to the wrath of God”. Yet in today’s world of tolerance where political correctness encourages me to ‘live and let live’ the thought that the people walking passed me “are hell-deserving sinners” is a difficult concept to get my head around, or at least it was until the penny dropped.

It is Satan that takes people to hell not God. Indeed the bible clearly shows that God has done everything he could possibly do (short of revoking free will) to prevent people from damnation and he is as committed today to saving them as he ever was. Every man and woman has free will and a life to spend in anyway they want. The Devil, wanting them to suffer as much as possible, will use any and every means at his disposal to take them to hell. There is an escape route for all who want it.

My job as a Salvation Army Corps Officers is to warn people that without Christ there is no guarantee of an eternity outside hell and offer them (in a way they can understand) the good news that Jesus wants to save them.

Of course it remains true that both we and the devil will be surprised on judgement day just who does (and who doesn’t) make the grade – scripture makes it quite clear that there are some surprises in store. However, God’s right to determine who is righteous and unrighteous doesn’t excuse us from our mission to save as many as we can.

Maybe we need to resurrect the biblical concept of a real devil and a real hell into our preaching and witness in order to rediscover that urgency that was once the compassionate engine of The Salvation Army.

Love and prayers

A

Consecration or compromise? holiness or hell?

Jesus reduced the complex Jewish legal system down to just two simple straightforward commands:

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two.”

Jesus was able to do this by simply removing the word ‘not’ from the end of ‘thou shalt not’ and thereby turning reactive legalism into proactive righteousness. By replacing a list of what we couldn’t do with a list of what we ought to do Jesus was able to condense the entire Jewish law into just two short sentences.

At the same time he did this he also reduced the list of sins for which a Christian can be condemned to just one. The only sin a Christian can ever commit is the sin of compromise.

The greatest commandment demands the active surrender of all that I have and the second commandment gives me back the time and space I need to satisfy the needs of family and friends. Beyond meeting my ‘neighbours’ needs every minute, every penny and every influence I have must be entirely dedicated to God.

Just before William Booth died he was asked what had set him apart from other men, was it the fact that he had given all he had to God? The old man replied that there was nothing remarkable in such an act of devotion and that many people had given their all to God; the founder went on to say that what made his personal consecration remarkable was that he had never taken anything back.

Holiness – that supreme love that gladly gives all I have to God – is the only way forward for the Christian, but sadly, most Christians having laid all on the altar keep returning to take bits back – like a child chipping away at an Easter egg they are supposedly saving for later, in short they compromise.

Compromise is the killer of radical Christianity, there can be no such thing as primitive Salvationism without a constant, hour by hour consecration of all I have to God. The only reasonable act of Christian worship acceptable to God is a ‘living sacrifice’ – nothing else will do.

‘Without holiness none shall see the Lord’ not in our own lives, in our Corps, in our Division, neither in our territory nor indeed throughout the Army world.

There is only one choice - consecration or compromise, holiness or hell, there is no middle ground.

Need encouaging then check this out!

Need I say more?

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vxfH9T0qFHU

If you haven't surrendered all then do it now!

There is no greater existence than 'holiness enjoyed'.

Hallelujah!

Love and prayers

A

Mosque Attenders to outnumber Church Attenders in Britain in a generation

According to the Times on May 8th (the date I got saved hallelujah!) in an article given to me by my CSM Colin, Church attendance in Britain is declining so fast that the number of regular churchgoers will be fewer than those attending mosques within a generation.

The fall - from the four million people who attend church at least once a month today - means that the Church of England, Catholicism and other denominations will become financially unviable. A lack of funds from the collection plate to support the Christian infrastructure, including church upkeep and ministers’ pay and pensions, will force church closures as ageing congregations die.

In contrast, the number of actively religious Muslims will have increased from about one million today to 1.96 million in 2035? No doubt some of them worshipping at the London Central Mosque pictured on the right above.

Now what can we learn from Islam?

They never push their religion, they don’t wear old fashioned clothes that make them stand out, you never hear them berating moral decline in the west, they are generally moderate and nominal hardly ever extreme, they take a gentle line on contemporary sins like abortion on demand and homosexuality and they are hardly ever in the papers. In addition they are passionate about making sure their religion and the way they present is culturally relevant.

In truth Contemporary Islam seems to contain many of the traits that post modernists within the church declare are holding us back and creating barriers to recruitment. Of course there is much, much more to Christianity than these outward characteristics but there is a point to be made none the less.

I think the truth is that people today are looking for something that seems to be authentic and most Moslems appear more authentic than most Christians.

God bless the children of Abraham whether they are Christian, Moslems or Jews and may our passion for the God of Abraham lead us all to the feet of Christ and the kind of uncompromising faith that will win the world for him.

Love and prayers

A

Holiness alone delivers success!

Folloowing on from my blog a couple of days ago on holiness I came across the following snippet from The Officer Magazine, March 1894...

"The last two or three issues of the USA "Cry" to hand have contained correspondence with reference to "what constitutes a successful field officer?" following figures are given as an example of an officer's work, and as showing the possibility of lifting a "hard go" :-

Seven Months Preceding

Total attendance at meetings 7,532
Total attendance of soldiers 1,655
Number of open-airs 21
Number of soldiers at open-airs 217
Number of souls saved 4
Number of soldiers on roll-call 20
Number of recruits 0
War-Crys 75
Soldiers in full uniform 6
Soldiers wearing S's and badge 8

Seven Months Captain Well Saved

Total attendance at meetings 19,238
Total attendance of soldiers 4,930
Number of open-airs 100
Number of soldiers at open-airs 2,216
Number of souls saved 60
Number of soldiers on roll-call 39
Number of recruits 6
War-Crys 150
Soldiers in full uniform 14
Soldiers wearing S's and badge 32

I think no one would deny that the above record is a success. Now, how was it done? “Visiting," says one. No, not at all, for the captain was alone nearly all her term and had too much other work to make a speciality of visiting. "Open-air work," suggests another and we admit that to a great extent; but the root of the matter is neither visiting, open-air work, soldiers' meetings, singing, speaking or anything else but the grace of God, given to those who seek it to the exclusion of everything else. All other things are branches, leaves and blossoms on the tree of Salvation Army service; but the root, the trunk which makes and holds up the branches, blossoms and fruit is a daily consecrated body, soul and spirit."

Holiness will prove to be the salvation of the Salvation Army.

Love and prayers

A

Reinforcements and cold hard cash!

Last Sunday at Dartford we enrolled a new Junior Soldier (John Machan our first male JS for 12 years!) and commissioned 9 Junior Musicians. Reinforcements in the great Salvation war - hallelujah.

Normally the Corps has 3 War Cry stands a week (hopefully rising soonto 4) 2 of these stands I do on my own and the other is shared with a soldier at the Corps. This week due to circumstances beyond my control we had to cancel 1 of these.

These stands deliver 4 main benefits to the Corps:

• They are an opportunity for evangelism
• They make the Army visible
• They povide me with 7 hours of static 'prayer walking' (how about that for a classic oxymoron!)
• They raise money for our growing community relief programme.

Cancelling 1 stand left us down about £100 for the week. Lo and behold a man walked into the hall this morning and donated £200 - so we're now £100 up! God is good - Hallelujah.

"No retreating, hell defeating..."

Love and prayers

A

Derelict, defunct or just undevoted?

Most Christians don’t win. They might win occasionally but they don’t win consistently on a daily basis. In spite of a plethora of scriptural promises that ought to ensure that we are ‘more than conquerors’ we continue to experience the occasional lapse (some more than others).

This tendency towards ongoing defeat is true both on a personal basis and also on a corporate basis. Our Corps do not win battles consistently – we win the occasional skirmish – a soul here and a soul there – but as for revival…

The Salvation Army, together with the wider Church, is also prone to defeat, in fact as I consider the performance of individual Christians, Corps and Denominations the phrase ‘could do better’ seems like a massive understatement – at least it does if you make Acts 2 your benchmark.

A quick review of our personal and corporate performance as believers calls to mind the following words…

“We have not served Thee as we ought,
alas, the duties left undone,
the work with little fervor wrought,
the battles lost or scarcely won!”

This lack luster performance bothers me – in my own life it terrifies me. I have enough knowledge of revival and holiness to know that something is seriously out of kilter.

Why are we so familiar, both personally and corporately, with (at best) half hearted victory and (at worst) defeat? Why is it that we seem to have “been made liable to destruction”

In Joshua 7 we see a contest that ought to have been no contest. We see an Army of superior skill, experience and numbers defeated by a substantially inferior enemy. Had this been a game of football the Israelites would have been odds on to win (that is if you could have found a bookie that hadn’t closed his book). Yet the Israelites lost because they had “been made liable to destruction”. If God has made you “liable to destruction” then you are destined to defeat no matter how much the odds appear to be stacked in your favour.

I believe that the Israelites in Joshua 7 are a metaphor for the contemporary western Salvation Army and Achan is symbolic of many contemporary (western) Salvationists. We have “taken some of the devoted things; (we) have stolen, (we) have lied, (we) have put them with (our) own possessions. That is why (we) cannot stand against (our) enemies; (we) turn (our) backs and run because (we) have been made liable to destruction.” Consequently, God “will not be with (us) anymore unless (we) destroy whatever among (us) is devoted to destruction.”

The early Salvationists were very quick to point out that holiness was the secret to their success; they credited holiness as the source of their consistent victory.

Holiness requires a complete surrender of all we have to God. Those things which God has “devoted to destruction” we must give up – that means everything that is sinful and everything that is doubtful. Secondly, we must surrender all that is left to God. This means all our time, talents, money, passion, influence – even our families and personal relationships – everything we have must be fed into our love for God. We must ‘Love the LORD our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength” and the reality of our absolute commitment must be evident to “our children” we must “talk about it when we sit at home and when we walk along the road, when we lie down and when we get up.” They must see, our brothers and sisters in Christ must see and the lost must see that Jesus is not only first and last in our lives but also everything in between.

We must respond to the words of Paul, so ably paraphrased in ‘The Message’…

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

I have come to the realisation slowly and painfully that have (individually and collectively) been made ‘liable to destruction’. God will not give us victory until we have dealt with the consecrated things we have hidden away in our everyday lives. Perhaps, if you belong to a church other than the Salvation Army, you might need to prayerfully debate what those things are, however if you’re a Salvationist (especially if you’re an Officer) there is no need for a debate for our covenant demands an absolute surrender.

I've been content to dwell,
while multitudes are dying
and sinking into Hell.
I can no more be careless,
and say there's naught to do,
the fields are white to harvest
And labourers are few.

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

I want this experience for myself, I fed up with occasional failure, fed up with a hit and miss Christianity that sometimes wins but too often loses.

There is obviously no other way to secure victory than to give God everything - so by his grace that is what I am going to do – no – that is what I am doing from this moment on. I give everything to God. I refuse to be held back any longer by those who say that such a commitment is unreasonable, old fashioned or no longer required. I want to see revival (both in me and around me) I want to see Dartford on fire, I want to see my Corps explode like a scatter bomb of fruitful evangelism – not only successful where it is but also planting cells and outposts in other places too!

I want this, God wants this and he has promised that I will be ‘more than conqueror’ – if I pay the price.

By his grace I will – God help me!

Hallelujah!

Relaxation or false religion?

So Manchester United won their third European Cup to go alongside the Premier league Championship they secured a couple of weeks to go.

I promised myself that at the end of this season I would re-examine my commitment to football… so here goes.

Football is played on a Sunday and to watch it on a Sunday is breaking the Sabbath (I know we’re under grace not law but shouldn’t we have at least one day set apart for God?)

Many football teams are sponsored by Gambling companies or breweries.

A lot of people bet on football games (with the advent of spread betting done over the internet this has bound many people in serious addictions).

Footballers are paid obscene amounts of money.

Watching football doesn’t get anyone saved.

The early Salvationists were obsessed with saving the lost! They didn’t have any other interests apart from soul saving. They didn’t go to the theatre or watch football or spend time at parties - all their time was given to the task of getting people saved.

Football and the whole culture that surrounds it, is definitely of the world and in 1 John 2:15-17 it says:

“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. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”


If we really desire to see the onset of revival, doesn’t the fulfilment of that desire demand that we focus on the job in hand and turn our attention away from the ‘tempting sounds’ and the ‘sights that dazzle.’

Tuesday night I went to a united church prayer meeting and on Wednesday I watched the European Cup – which made me feel more intense, which roused my passions more?

I recently said that I was going to attempt to live like a 1908 Salvation Army Officer – such a man certainly wouldn’t have wasted his time watching football.

I’m not saying that watching football is a sin but perhaps it is doubtful and holiness demands that I surrender everything that is both sinful and doubtful.


So I’ve got three months before the new season starts – three months to consider whether this is a healthy hobby or a debilitating distraction.


One thing however seems certain – I can’t really sing ‘my all is on the altar’ if a little bit of my heart is always at Old Trafford!

Love and prayers

The Salvation Soldier's Guide

I don't want to sound like a stuck record but The Salvation Soldier's Guide is an incredible resource for Salvationists (especially 'Primitive Salvationists')

The Salvation Soldier's Guide is a collection of bible readings for the morning and evening of every day in the year. The selected readings are particularly relevant to the Salvationist's.

The original readings were taken from the King James Version and very few copies of the original 'guide' are still around. I am posting these readings ecery day but taken from the New International Version.

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

The Salvation Soldier's Guide can be found by following this link.

Happy reading, may God bless The Salvation Army - Hallelujah

Yesterday's Army for today?

My good friend Carol Young sent me some material recently that came out of an ‘all night of prayer’ she had attended. Some of it was for private consumption and some I am sure will find its way into the public domain via her blog (The Old Wells).

However, in a discussion afterwards, on the phone, she mentioned that (I think it was a quote from a book) the Army’s early success was directly related to the fact that it perfectly reflected the needs of the day.

Last night I was walking down Dartford High Street thinking about today’s needs and what a Salvation Army that met them might look like.

Dartford High Street is pedestrianised with a kind of cobbled effect road service. The shops are mainly made up of cheap cafes (what we in the UK call ‘a greasy spoon’) betting shops and pubs. We also have the obligatory ‘Primark’, a bingo hall, two amusement arcades (slot machine parlours) and two pawnbrokers. The people that walk up and down the High Street are primarily poor (though not as poor as some in the UK) and many of them look harassed and lost.

In Dartford (as in the wider UK) gambling, teenage pregnancy, violent crime, prostitution are all rife and on the increase and alcohol costs less than bottled water - it is very easy to get seriously drunk in Dartford for less than £3.

It would seem that in spite of new technology, sexual liberation, sexual equality, human rights legislation and political correctness, post modern Britain doesn’t actually look that different from how it looked 140 years ago.

So I’m going to attempt an experiment in consecration – that sounds less sincere than it ought to – I’m not playing games here, what I’m about to do I have been prayerfully considering for some time.

It seems that the primitive Salvationists in their attitude to things like worldliness, Sabbath keeping, evangelism, fighting for social justice etc actually got it about right.

Now I have a copy of O&R’s for Field Officers 1908, an early doctrine book, a copy of ‘Heathen England’, a Salvation Soldier’s Guide, Cadet’s Lessons and countless other instructive books from those early days.

I’m going to attempt to live my life as I would have been expected to live it if I had been a Salvationist about the turn of the century. I’m not looking to utilising old methods (unless they still work) but I do want to recreate that primitive spirit that enabled our pioneers to be so completely focussed in what they did.

I’ll use this blog to let you know how I get on.

Love and prayers

A

A Bible especially for Salvationists!

I’ve been bringing ‘The Salvation Soldier's Guide’* up to date and publishing the results at a new blog (follow this link).

I must admit that I have been amazed at the obvious thought that must have gone into the selection of verses for each day.

I consider myself to be pretty familiar with the word of God having read the Bible through cover to cover at least 10 times ( I started using a reading guide that takes you through the whole bible in one year about ten years ago!)

Yet even I have found myself encountering verses in a whole new light. The context into which verses are placed, the other verses they have been chosen to compliment and their overall relevance to Salvationists has been amazing.

If you don’t have a regular reading guide then I would heartily suggest that you could do a lot worse than this one.

Love and prayers - A

* The Salvation Soldier’s Guide was a pocket sized collection of bible readings for the morning and evening of every day in the year intended to ensure that Salvationists read from the whole bible and not just the New Testament. It was also meant to be small enough for a workman to take with him on his shift and read to his colleagues.

Revival has come to Dartford!!!

Last Sunday Revival came to Dartford! However, this wasn't Revival in the Pentecostal sense. On this occasion Revival was the name of a Christian from Zimbabwe who had come to the meeting to be the witness at the dedication of a little baby girl - Vanessa (also from Zimbabwe).

In fact we had over 50 visitors all of whom heralded from that troubled country. It was a fantastic meeting and our African visitors certainly added to the occasion in a memorable and stirring way.

It was grteat to have Revival with us but not as great as it would have been if this blog entry had been about the arrival of that more familiar form of revival.

I've been thinking a lot about revival and it seems to me that there are three common denominators within the church which can be identified during times of revival.

The first is the fact that Christians during times of revival believed that salvation was important - they believed that the converts they made were actually being saved from a fate worse than death. They believed in heaven and hell and therefore as a consequence there was a compassion and urgency about their evangelism.

Secondly, believers during times of revival are obsessed with saving the lost! They didn't have any other interests apart from soul saving. They didn't go to the theatre or watch football or spend time at parties - all their time was given to the task of getting people saved. This obsession of course was directly linked to the first point above - if people died without knowing Christ then there was the possibility they had gone to hell. Believers in times of revival work with the same committment and sense of urgency that people would work to rescue someone from a burning building - the consequences (both for themselves and the lost) of apathy and laziness were unthinkable.

Finally, revivals seem to happen when the church appears to be on the brink of collapse. Healthy churches don't appear to be visited by revival (if you follow my drift). Because of this widespread apostasy revivals seem to start with just a few people for whom points 1 and 2 above are true.

Well the good news is that the third criteria we (in the West at least) seem to possess in abundance. I guess revival (not the one from Zimbabwe) will come to Dartford when a few of us have discovered the first two.

Plenty to think about....

Love and prayers

A

Cycle lanes, fading paint and self righteousness

On Thursday I was standing outside Macdonald’s selling The War Cry (as I do every week) and it crossed my mind that the white lines that marked out the cycle lane needed repainting.

The other week a cyclist nearly ran over a policeman who reprimanded him for cycling without care – the cyclist pointed out that the policeman was actually walking in a cycle lane. The policeman – a little embarrassed – apologised and waved the cyclist on his way.

As all of this was wandering through my mind (it took about a second) two workmen turned up and started repainting the lines!

It made me think how in contemporary society the moral markers which are supposed to be put down by the church have become faint and hard to distinguish. This has led to confusion within the church and encouraged some Christians to arbitrarily judge those in society they consider to be sinful. However, without clear markings how will sinners know that they are in the wrong?

Far too many times I have watched Christians acting in an unchristian way towards the lost – especially homosexuals, prostituted women, those with addictions, the performers (and recipients) of abortions etc. How can we be so quick to blame the world for wandering off the straight and narrow without clear markings?

As things stand we run the risk of looking as daft as the policeman wandering in the middle of the cycle lane – however, for us the potential consequence is much worse than public embarrassment.

Our self righteousness and apathy, all too often leads us to see the world as bad and ourselves as good. Yet the great commission has placed upon us the responsibility to preach the gospel in a way people can comprehend. In other words it is our job to make sure the white lines are visible.

The whole thing called to mind the following verses from Jeremiah 2:34-35

“On your clothes men find the lifeblood of the innocent poor, though you did not catch them breaking in. Yet in spite of all this you say, 'I am innocent; he is not angry with me.' But I will pass judgment on you because you say, 'I have not sinned.'
I think we need to go and look for our paint!

The Salvation Soldier's Guide

The Salvation Soldier's Guide was a pocket sized collection of bible readings for the morning and evening of every day in the year.

Issued by William Booth the book was intended to ensure that Salvationists read from the whole bible and not just the New Testament. It was also meant to be small enough for a workman to take with him on his shift and read to his colleagues.

The Salvation Soldier's Guide was eventually replaced by the Soldier's Armoury and more recently by Words of life. However, the original Guide was probably the best of the lot. The readings that were chosen were particularly relevant to the Salvationist's lot.

Obviously the original readings were taken from the King James Version and very few copies of the original 'guide' are still around.

I have an original copy and it is my intention to post the selected readings on a newly created blog each day with the passages updated from the New International Version.

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

The Salvation Soldier's Guide can be found by following this link.

Happy reading, may God bless The Salvation Army - Hallelujah

Love and prayers A

A call to arms

Yesterday was St George’s day and the birthday of Shakespeare, so with apologies to the Bard I post my own (somewhat altered) speech from Henry V – may it stir your blood, bones and spirit!

“To the front, Comrades, once more; or bridge the gap twixt here and heaven with dead Salvationists. In God’s kingdom there's nothing so becomes a man as modest stillness and humility:But when the blast of war blows in our ears, then imitate the action of the tiger; stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, dress gentle Jesus in righteous anger… Grit your teeth and stretch the nostril wide, hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit to his full height. On, on, Salvation Soldiers whose heritage is those who once were ‘more than conquerors.

Salvation soldiers that, like so many Booths and Railtons, have in these parts from morn till even fought and sheathed their swords for lack of argument: Dishonour not these pioneers; now attest that those whom you called primitives have led the way.

Be like them now to men of grosser blood, and teach them how to war. And you, good soldier, whose limbs were forged in ‘Blood and fire’, show us here the mettle of your pasture; let us swear that you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not; For there is none of you though once so mean and base, that hath not washed in Jesus’ blood.I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, straining upon the start. The game's afoot: Follow the spirit, and upon this chargeCry 'God for the General, the lost, and Saint George!"

St George of course being Railton!

Love and prayers

A

Careful it's catching!

So the ‘Bales’ are all in isolation…

Two weeks ago at the Divisional Children’s Camp one of the staff had to be sent home after he showed the symptoms of impetigo.

As far as I’m aware at least three other children within the Division have since contracted the condition including my daughter Charlotte who has subsequently infected our whole family. (By the way that's not her above - that's a stock photo!)

Impetigo is highly contagious (but fortunately is easily and quickly treated with antibiotics!).

As I sit here with my bell by my side, a red cross painted on the door, I can’t help thinking of all the people I’ve hugged and kissed in the last two weeks, not to mention the babies I’ve held and cuddled. Then there’s all the equipment and furniture I’ve touched. Collection boxes, computers, door handles, bundles of War Crys, cups etc.

I wonder if the disease will stop with us or make its way around the Corps - maybe even the whole of Dartford?

Imagine what it would be like if Christianity was as infectious as impetigo – we’d have the whole world saved in a matter of months!

Love and prayers (from a safe distance)

A

“Further up, and further in!”

I once went for a job interview where I was asked to list all my weaknesses and all my strengths. I filled up a whole page with weaknesses and my list of strengths contained just one – “ability to identify weaknesses”!

On reflection I was a bit hard on myself yesterday – completely honest – but probably not totally fair. My CSM said to me last night (he had read my blog) “Andrew if the Mercy Seat was lined every week with new converts you’d still not be satisfied” and he’s probably right :-)

What I was trying to say yesterday is that spiritual achievement is directly proportional to spiritual commitment and subsequent obedience and as Finney reminds us if we surrender 99.9% to God but knowingly hold back .9% that act of deliberate disobedience is sin.

It’s a good job we can bring grace into the equation or none of us would get to heaven!

I feel that something good and exciting is in the air, I feel that we as a movement (and Dartford as a Corps) are ready to enter the promised land, but our victory depends on surrendering to God ‘the devoted things’ and moving further along the path of holiness.

I recently re-read ‘The last battle’ (final book in the Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis). As the characters make their way to heaven they are constantly urged to go “further up, and further in!” one of them encourages the others with the observation that “the further up and the further in you go, the bigger everything gets. The inside is larger than the outside.”

Our human perspective often leads us to be deceived! We act as if this is the real world, as if everything is down to us and our limited ability and resources when in fact reality is where God dwells and this is the ‘truth that sets us free’. On our own we can do nothing but with God we can do everything! Too often all we can see is the narrow doorway through which we are commanded to pass into greater achievement and effectiveness (and it is narrow), but we can’t see beyond to the wonderful possibilities opening up just beyond. What we need isn’t more discipline or greater self denial we just need more ‘faith’.

“Lord I believe help thou my unbelief!”

Love and prayers

A

Could do better!

Three quarters of a year at Dartford and things have gone well. However, there is a deep and disturbing dissatisfaction in my heart.

If I’d been appointed here in 1887 instead of 2007 then my nine months here would have been considered a failure – Railton would have sacked me for sure! Where are the new converts, recruits and soldiers? Whe re is the revival?

People have been saved, the Corps has grown, finances have been stabilised, property has been improved, the programme tweaked and good relationships with the lost established – But is my commitment and passion really worthy of Christ’s suffering and death?

It is too easy to judge our achievements by those around us, to measure our performance against the achievements of the contemporary church, but when we set the benchmark as Acts 2 or Whitechapel 1880 our efforts receive their proper score!

I’m quite sure that Dartford has not been disappointed with their new Officers and I’m also confident that the other church leaders in the town are pleased with the new Army incumbents, maybe even those on the edge of society might be prepared (in an odd sober moment) to express gratitude for our arrival. But beyond the expectations of others how do I personally assess my performance since last July?

I’d probably give myself 2 out of 10. Why such a miserly score? The reason is that God looks on the heart and not on the outer man. I’ve certainly worked hard and put in some long hours but my heart still backs away from the ultimate location that God is trying to take it.

Last week at our Divisional Children’s camp the kids were asked to put the following things in order of importance: TV, family, God, Church, bible, prayer, football, leisure time, friends and money. Now if I was going to look at the last nine months and do that exercise honestly then the outcome is shown below. I’ve worked this out on the basis of the time committed to them and the passion that they generate within me (I’m discounting the time I spend working as an Officer because that’s my job):

Football, Family, TV, Prayer, Bible, Friends, Leisure Time, Money, God.

Now some might say that I’m being a bit harsh on myself, but how can I really put God anywhere other than last if I consistently disobey him? God is leading me (or trying to lead me) further along the path of holiness but I am struggling to follow him. If I were happy with a compromised contemporary understanding of holiness and if I were happy to compare my achievements with those around me then perhaps I’d be comfortable putting God first.

I read the following this morning in my personal devotions:

“The LORD your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. You have declared this day that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in his ways, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws, and that you will obey him. And the LORD has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands. He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honour high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised.” (Deuteronomy 26:16-19)

It’s all about covenant – if I keep my part of my covenant then God can do “abundantly more than all I could ever ask for or even imagine” if I don’t then things stay as they are.

I wish I’d been born 150 years ago because then I’d be getting this kind of message three times a week and my spiritual ambitions would be considered normal.

Is this not the personal holiness we need to reclaim if we are to be truly effective again?

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

Seriously under conviction!

I feel under conviction – I don’t think I can remember feeling under as much conviction since my conversion. I feel compelled to repeatedly turn to those parts of the bible that seem to have become unfashionable (or perhaps unpalatable). I mean the sections that deal with things like worldliness, judgement, hell, lifestyle, social justice, true fasting, hypocrisy, practical compassion and self sacrifice. At the same time I am becoming more and more familiar with the lifestyles and practical self sacrifice of the Army’s founders (those who joined the battle prior to 1880)

A copy of O&R’s for Field Officers (1908) recently came into my possession and I was wondering if it would be possible to live my life as I would have done if I had been an Officer serving then. I also recently read the life story of Captain Ted Irons (converted at the age of 20 in 1876 and died in a drowning accident in 1878) it is almost impossible to comprehend just how much God did in this man’s life in just two years! I’m also re-reading Watson’s ‘Soldier Saint’ which (after the bible) is the most challenging read that I can find.

There is an irresistible pull towards actually trying to make the sacrifice that the early SA Pioneers made and an irrepressible conviction that their absolute single vision and un-distracted passion was the primary reason for their miraculous success.

All of this, repeatedly, leads me to the inescapable conclusion that these old and almost forgotten ways (I’m talking about spirit not necessarily methodology) are the conditions we must meet if we are to experience revival.

I remain under conviction, back firmly against the wall and in a corner that seems to become tighter by the day – God is pushing for an answer and as yet I am still slightly confused. I have prayed and prayed and asked for someone that I could talk to but the answer I get is “all you need is your knowledge of the past, the evidence of your conversion, scriptural truth and one wild and totally ludicrous leap of faith!’

I think I’m close to capitulation if for no other reason than I can’t see any other way out of this dilemma.

Love and prayers

A