Saturday, May 25, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Fulfilling Gods calling to love your neighbour
Imagine you’re tucking in a child at night. You
put the covers over them so that they are warm and cosy, you give them a hug
and a gentle kiss on the forehead and then whisper goodnight. Then, the moment
of all moments, with those innocent little eyes looking at you a tiny voice
replies: “I love you”.
Such precious words! There’s nothing quite like hearing:
I LOVE YOU. They can melt your heart; can change a heart of stone.
But Love isn’t just about saying those words; it’s
about actions like a smile to someone who walks by. That smile could change a
person’s day or giving someone a hug shows that you care and are there for
them. One action or gesture can turn things around for someone just like in Les
Mis.
There is a fantastic scene where the main
character, Jean Valjean, is released from prison after serving 19 years for
stealing a loaf of bread. He finds refuge in a church where the bishop shows
him kindness and yet Valjean gets up in the middle of the night, returns to a
life of crime and steals the church silver.
The Bishop had every right to hand him over to
the police but the bishop immediately tells a lie. He says that he did give
Valjean the silver. And then when it should have been enough to have let Valjean
go free, the bishop walks over to the table and picks up the two large candle
sticks and gives them to Valjean saying to him he had left the best behind.
This shows that one man’s kindness sets another
man free. It was love that went the extra mile and we can do the same for
others. That love, to set someone free is so powerful it needs to be passed on
to change a person’s life.
…In 1 Corinthians chapter 2 it tells us that
even before time began....., because of that great love for us, he put into motion
a plan that started with the creation of this world in order to create man in
his own image. And out of his desire for us to freely love him in return we
have been given the ability of free choice.
God also at that perfect moment in time sent his
son to this earth to complete his plan. Jesus was the fulfilment of Gods deep
love for mankind and gave himself up for us so that we might have life through
him. 1 John 4 verse 10 says This is love: not that we loved God but that he
loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
God has loved us since before time began and
will love us till the end of time as Jeremiah 31 verse 3 says I have loved you
with an everlasting love.
This love that God has for us is impossible to
keep to ourselves! We should share the love that we have for him as well. It’s
like the women who wept at Jesus feet, letting her tears fall and wiping them
with her hair. Kissing his feet and pouring perfume on them. That woman could
not contain her love for God.
For all of us to pass on God’s love we have to
experience it for ourselves and express it like the woman at Jesus feet and
only then can we love our neighbour. It is in discovering Gods love that we
learn how to love each other.
We can only love our neighbour when we love God
and when we do love God we will love even the unlovable. We won’t just love the
people of God..... We will love all people......
This means even people we don’t like and most of
the time the people we don’t like are those who don’t like us. Well known author and Christian spokesperson John
Ortberg says that it is far easier to love people who like us than to love
people who don’t. For us to love our neighbour we must not judge them, we must
see them through the eyes of God.
It means loving a next-door neighbour who annoys
you, loving a person who says something horrible to you and loving someone who
you lose all respect for.
Fulfil your calling today by loving your
neighbour.
(Based on Mark 12:28-34)
Sermon preached on May 12, 2013 by Officership applicant Laura Jones pictured here with Major Sheila Loman, CO Birkenhead Corps
Monday, May 13, 2013
Today in Canada The
Salvation Army has 877active officers (clergy), more than 18,000 soldiers
(church members) and close to 44,000 adherents; that is, people who claim the
Army as their church home, but who are not formal members. There are 311 corps
(churches) and more
than 330
social-service institutions of various kinds. As well
as the many thousands
of volunteers, more than 10,000 people
are employed by The
Salvation Army in the Canada and
Bermuda Territory.
Fifty-five Canadian officers and lay staff
also serve overseas in
countries from Papua New Guinea to South Africa.
____
A comrade salvationist
is trying to shake us awake from the sleep in one territory that SHOULD be in
crisis mode but which, according to argument, seems to be snoozing away while
the titanic is sinking…
Immediate actions?
Address the
precipitous officer decline (his suggestions):
Re-activate retireds
- write
to the DCs (whether retired now or not) with a list of all of the retireds (those
who have retired in the last five years) who served in their commands, asking
for confirmation that there is no reason not to reactivate them;
- reactivate
all of those retireds (who want to be reactivated)
. accelerate older
training
- implement by September a three-month training system for candidates
over 45;
. keep current
officers
- write all officers
- ask who's
considering leaving and what would get them to stay
Our take:
retireds –
sure, let’s try to get a bunch of them reactivated. Canada and Bermuda
Territory deployed a bunch of them in last week’s appointments.
But let’s
adjust the system. Let’s bump up the retirement age. 68 or 70 is a
good start… (the general population lives a lot longer than it did when
65 was made retirement age; officers in UKI live a decade longer than the
general population – clean living!; we USED to have retirement age of 70 (and
then 68) for generals (who have a tough workload); and in the west most
officers have to work anyway to afford to live in retiredment)
Accelerate
older training – sure. We’d lower the minium age proposed from 45 to 18.
Again, let’s adjust the system. Let’s set an entry profile for
commissioned officership and then bring cadets to match that profile. For
some it might take a couple of days; for others it might be a couple of years.
Not
only that, but we train using an incarnational apprenticeship method so that
the training period is more effective and efficient and more productive in the
salvation war.
Keep current officers –
great call. His suggestion included flexibility to match the officers’ ‘what
could get me to stay’ proposals… That’d be interesting to observe.
Regardless, let’s care for people.
______________________
The whole great
commission imperative is to GO and PREACH. We are to go and preach that the
kingdom of God is at hand. We are to go and make disciples of all nations. We
are to go and preach the gospel to all creatures. We are to go and turn them
from darkness to light, from the power of satan to God, SO THAT they may
receive the forgiveness of sins AND A PLACE AMONG THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN
SANCTIFIED BY FAITH IN ME. By all means, save some.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
FEEL FREE TO BORROW
WE'RE SHARING THE BELOW MEDITATION BY DR. JOHN SULLIVAN IN ORDER THAT YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO COPY IT FOR USE IN YOUR PENTECOST SUNDAY SERVICE ON MAY 19.
IT IS A YOUTUBE LINK: http://youtu.be/mAfyIu3CrsU
VIDEO PENTECOST; SEND THE FIRE
IT IS A YOUTUBE LINK: http://youtu.be/mAfyIu3CrsU
VIDEO PENTECOST; SEND THE FIRE
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