Articles of War

I've been reading the Articles of War that I signed more than 20 years ago and feel shocked that I was so willing to make such a big commitment at the tender age of 14 (well almost 15)! Casting my mind back I don't think I ever understood the reality of what it could mean for my life, and I've certainly failed to live up to them over the years.

Here in Latvia I often find that my language skills can often be a barrier to successful communication as my Latvian is poor. Also the language itself does not always have a good word for what we are trying to say, for instance 'integrity' has no direct translation that I've discovered. This issue spreads over to the commitment that our TSA Soldiers make here. The translation of the Articles of War don't say "I will...", but rather "I will try to..."!

In one way the difference is positive as it confirms our knowledge of our humanity and without God's help are not able to always succeed at the commitment we've made. On the other hand, I fear that it ultimately engenders a defeatist attitude. "I will try to..." suggests that you already know you will fail and means that people can't fault you if you do! You can't be held accountable as you clearly said that you will only "try to" do something.


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Sillyness

I saw a variation of this post on Chris's Blog and couldn't resist.

If you want to see this blog without all my ramblings click here

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Paperwork

Today it seems that there is no end to the paperwork! All I seem to have done since I started the new job is read information, write up reports, send letters and move paper. Not only is it very frustrating but at the moment it feels like there is no end in sight.

Part of the reason for accepting this position was the fact that I may get to put into place new ideas for how The Salvation Army in Latvia can do make its mission more effective. At the moment though it feels like all I'm ever going to do is push paper!

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History

Tomorrow morning I'm off out of Riga to Skangal (Children's home and school) where there is a seminar for employees and volunteers of The Salvation Army here in Latvia. This is the second time we've run this half-day training and I have the job of talking about Salvation Army history. I'm really happy about this as I love the history of my church.

As I've looked over my notes this evening, I've been thinking about how this history impacts on the current Salvation Army. We have various voices from around the world pushing for radical changes that will either make The Salvation Army unrecognisable from its roots, or who want to take us back to an age that may not ever have existed.

For me I love the passion of the early day Salvationists, and wonder why this passion seems to have been lost. For most of my 36 years I've plodded along as a Christian with a few high points of strong passion, but the majority of the time I've not really been that passionate. The stuff I'm reading at the moment is starting to change that and I see ahead a process that will transform my thinking, something that I want to happen.

One thing is for sure though! I want to be more like the early day Salvationists with their passion for the lost and those in need, than the many apathetic Salvationists I've come into contact with over the years!

Technorati tags: history passion

It's snowing

Today it has been snowing almost non-stop and at least 4 or 5 inches have fallen and its still coming down. Everything outside looks like one of those old fashioned christmas cards and the only thing missing is a little robin sat on a sprig of holly!

The children from Patverums have been enjoying themselves out in the snow doing the things kids do best. Tomorrow we'll take Sian out in it and I'm pretty certain that she will be almost knee deep trying to throw snowballs at us (although normally they just end up being handfuls of snow).

Offensive Christianity

One of my favourite secular authors is Terry Pratchett and, despite him being humanist, I sometimes find stuff that speaks into my own life! In one of his books I found the following:

"If I thought there was some god who really did care two hoots about people, who watched 'em like a father and cared for 'em like a mother ... youwouldn't find me just being gen'rally nice in the hope that it'd all turn out right in the end, not if that flame was burning in me like an unforgivin' sword. And I did say burnin'...'cos that's what it'd be. You say that you people don't burn folk and sacrifice people any more, but that's what true faith would mean, y'see? Sacrificin' your own life, one day at a time, to the flame, declarin' the truth of it, workin' for it, breathin' the soul of it. That's religion. Anything else is just ... is just bein' nice."

Here a humanist writer has written something that all Christian's should understand. Why are we satifisfied to sit in our often empty churches and be 'nice' instead of getting out there and communicating the gospel?

Jesus is the "Stone that causes men to stumble and the rock that makes them fall" (Isaiah 8:14), yet all too often we try to clear up the stones in the path of people so that they won't stumble over us and be offended by us. Why? Instead we should be pushing on in the attack (note the American English equivalent "offensive") and start fighting for the Lord of Lords and King of Kings!

What's your theological worldview?

Just been browsing a few blogs and seen Steve's blog and took the quiz he has in a past post!

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 86% Emergent/Postmodern 82% Charismatic/Pentecostal 64% Neo orthodox 61% Classical Liberal 46% Fundamentalist 46% Reformed Evangelical 43% Roman Catholic 36% Modern Liberal 29% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

As a lifelong Salvationist I can't say I'm that surprised by the result but it's nice to know!

learning the value of people

Yesterday we had a major health scare. Zoe had a major migraine (the first in the 10 years we've been together) but the symptoms suggested that it could be any one of a numberof different things, some of which could have had major implications!

As I rushed over to pick her and Sian up from the parent and toddler group they were at, all the possibilities were going through my mind. It suddenly made me sit up and think about everything that is important to me and made me realise how easy it is to take things in life for granted.

Praise God that in fact today Zoe is feeling much better and all my fears were unfounded! I pray that the lessons I've learnt will not quickly be forgotten!

Radical Change

Today I was faced with the possibility of change in a small area of my life and its got me thinking about how people embrace change in their lives. Even though I didn't understand all the implications of this change I embraced the possibilities as it meant a new, and for me, radical way of doing things and I trust the person who was suggesting it. I could see the vision that was being put across and I wanted to be part of it!

However, the change isn't going to happen, or at least it isn't yet. The decision makers have decided that they don't want to make such radical changes at this time as the small changes we had already agreed on were more than enough. What prompted this decision seems to be lack of understanding of the issues and concern over the unknown effects of such a big change.

The changes would have meant that people would have to learn a different way of doing things, but it was also a better and ultimately cheaper way. Now we will be doing the same old things, in a slightly different way and if they work we might roll out more change later!

For me there was a real "promise of change" that meant I'd be challenged in new ways. For others they couldn't see beyond the threat of the unknown and consequently the same goals invoked a "fear of change" in them that ultimately stopped it.

At the end of the day the area where the change would have occurred is really insignificant, but it got me thinking about areas that might involve more important change. Am I someone who embraces change and sees it for the positive benefits it can bring, or am I someone who is scared of what change might involve and therefore try to stop it? Hopefully I'm the first! What about you?

What a bad day!

Every so often you have one of those days that you would rather forget! Today was one of those for me! Finally capped by Sian spending the best part of 2 hours crying after going to bed!

Lies, damn lies and statistics...

... so the saying goes!

One of the things I do in my job is try to keep abreast of social conditions in Latvia. Consequently a lot of statistics tend to catch my eye. Just now I noticed that the Central Statistical Bureau have increased the Minimum subsistence level per capita to LVL 111.97 (approx. GBP 110 or USD 192) per month. In other words it costs about LVL 120 for each person in Latvia to have the basic requirements put in place by the government of Latvia.

This doesn't sound like much, but in a country where the average state pension at the end of 2004 (latest available figures) was only LVL 70 per month and where the poorest 20% of the population were trying to survive on only LVL 38.42 per month, its clear there is a huge social problem.

On the well publicised surface Latvia appears to be doing well. One of the fastest growing economies in the EU. The guide books show images of the wonderful shopping centres and impressive cultural heritage of the country. One from a few years back suggests that people visit one extremely poor area of Riga to see the traditional wooden houses and experience the smells of frugal meals being cooked on open fires, as if poverty is a tourist attraction. On the way in from the airport it is almost easy to miss the poverty as you see the ever increasing number of new corporate offices and expensive high rise complexes.

But scratch that surface by going only a few blocks in the 'wrong direction' and poverty becomes evident. Leave the city and head off into the countryside and you'd have to be blind to miss the problems!

All this and I hear the message from someone only a couple of weeks ago that 'people do not see Latvia as a developing country' and consequently it'll be tough to get support for The Salvation Army's work here!

What is mission?

I was reading Gordon Cotterill's blog today and noticed the text running across the top of his blog and couldn't help but read it!

The comments about Mission reminded me about a book I have just received which is actually the text of a lecture given by Andrew Kirk in Sweden two or three years ago. The book called "What is Mission?" tries to answer that very question and raises concerns with some of the narrow views of what Mission is.

One particular comment though caught my eye in the book. Kirk says:

"In the discussion about the relationship between a 'given' gospel and concrete cultures, there appears to be a tendency towards relativising the gospel and absolutising culture. This is bringin sharp disagreements among Christians world-wide."

This comment reminds me that one of the biggest problems facing the Church today is that we often spend more time fighting amongst ourselves, rather than we do the real enemy. Having worked for a number of years for the Anglican Communion I see the often bitter arguments that are threatening to tear it apart, the base of which is this very problem.

Again in TSA I often find myself laughing in frustration at some of the letters or even articles in Salvationist that really are more about cultural differences than the gospel. We will sit back in 5, 10 or 20 years time and find that views have become so polarised that we are faced with an irrevocable split because of our attitudes of saying that our way is the only way!

Sian and some cadets

Well Sian is much better today, although still wanting lots of cuddles, which is nice! I was worried for awhile that I wouldn't get to the meeting this morning but she had recovered a lot over night.

I'm glad I did get to the meeting though as the 4 of our 6 cadets were leading. They all did extremely well and even though they have only been training since 9th January I can already see a transformation in them. This is in no small part due to the work that our Training Officer has put into the course (having basically built a curriculum from scratch and having to deal with 2 languages she doesn't speak). If you want to read more about how they are doing have a look over on Evie's blog on my blog roll and you'll be able to follow their training!

The joys of parenthood

After having had a long succession of busy Saturday's we were looking forward to getting out as just our small family today, but unfortunately, Sian woke up at about 6:00am and was vomiting.  It's now 10:45 and she's still not well so our plans for the day have gone out of the window!

 

This time last year Sian went down with gastroentiritus (excuse the spelling) and ended up spending 2 days on a drip at home before being stuck in the children's infectius disease ward of Riga's Children's Hospital.  Zoe was stuck there as well with me travelling back and forward every day.  Makes you worry when Sian is sick again!

A more down to Earth post!

Patrik & Hanna Olterman are our new Youth Leaders here in Latvia and they have not had a very good time of it over the first few weeks of their life in Latvia. Car break ins, bad housing, record low temperatures and sickness have been the order of the day. Today they moved into the flat that will be their home while they are here only to find some of their furniture has been damaged during the time it has been in storage.

We all know this is a time of spiritual attack as their self proclaimed, God-given goal is to make the name of Jesus famous here in Latvia.

If anyone does read this blog I'd just ask for you to pray for them over the coming weeks as they settle into their new life. They have a wonderful daughter, Angelina (almost 2), and another baby due in May.

What type of Army part 2?

Yesterday's posts reminded me of some thoughts about TSA that I had a few weeks ago. I can't remember now what set my thought process off, but I suspect that it was a letter in the Salvationist as that's often the case. Whatever it was I seem to put across a pretty narrow view of what TSA is.

Any I recall thinking that the view put across didn't describe any army in the world, so why should it describe ours. This led me to think about the way a military army is made up. It is full of various different types of regiment: Infantry, Artillery, Cavalry, Logistics etc. However, for many years our version of TSA, at least in the UK, was full dominated by only one type of unit (and that might not have even been a fighting unit!)

In actual fact there should be room in our Army for a variety of different units, all fighting in different ways, but all fighting for the same cause and all fighting as the best trained soldiers in the Army of God.

Instead we in the West have for decades been dominated by a mentality which to many extents was more of a spiritual Mess Hall than a true unit of an Army. Instead of taking the battle out to the frontline or into enemy territory we have sat safely in our camps enjoying an apparent peacetime, whilst allowing our Army to diminish. Many good soldiers have 'retired' and the young squaddies coming through have not been very well trained.

In many places there is dissatisfaction with this status quo and I praise the Lord that this is so. Lets start recruiting new recruits for all our different types of units and push on with the battle!

What type of Army do you belong to?

Later in the year we should be starting a Mission Team in Latvia from amongst the youth. The leader of the project has asked me to teach Salvation Army history to them during the first few weeks when they will undergo intense training.

In preparation I’ve started re-reading various books and yesterday I picked up Phil Wall’s ‘I’ll fight…’. I found the following that really made me sit up and think:

“In military terms they [Booth and the early Salvationists] did not see themselves as defenders of some religious enclave from which they occasionally fired artillery and launched ‘hit and run’ commando raids only to return to their ’safe haven’ citadels. No, this was an all-out offensive into enemy territory where the majority of lost people were to be found.”

Being totally honest, there is no doubt in my mind that the majority of corps that I grew up in, and there were a lot of them, were far more of the former type of military unit, than the latter. That ’safe haven’ mentality coloured my view of this Army for far to many years. I pray that I don’t perpetuate that understanding of The Salvation Army in my daughter’s life, or indeed in the type of Army I show through my history lessons to the young people of Latvia!

High Council Musings

As a regular reader of the Journal of Aggressive Christianity I was delighted to see the latest article from Danielle Strickland relating to the lack of married women as nominees for General. As the husband of a wife, I can understand why this is concerning to many people, and the fact that no married woman has yet reached a senior position in The Salvation Army is a problem that I hope will be addressed in future.

However, for me there was an even bigger issue. Of the 7 nominations for General there were 2 Canadians (interestingly both the women nominees), 2 Americans, 1 Brit, a Dane and a Swede! Not one of the nominees came from a part of the world where TSA is seeing its strongest growth! To me this is a far bigger issue than that of no married women, as at least there were some women nominated.

According to the information that I have, no recent General has ever been elected on their first nomination for the post. This means it is unlikely that we will see a change next time round, although the General-elect is young enough that many of the current ‘front-runners’ will have retired by the next High Council.

I truly believe that the right person has been appointed as the new General as I look back at past Generals and see that they were the man or woman for the time. However, I am genuinely concerned that we are still looking to the traditional strongholds for our leadership.

A new blog starts

I’ve been thinking about my own blog for sometime now and have finally decided to take the plunge.

Like many new bloggers I have no idea whatsoever about where this blog will take me, or how often I will be updating!

My main reason for starting a blog is that I’m not the best person at keeping a journal and the idea of sharing my ramblings with others through this medium quite interests me. I’m currently going through a process of trying to better understand both the Army I serve in and my place within it. Hopefully this blog will help me keep track and maybe even give me some form of accountability!

So whether anyone joins me along the way is yet to be seen, but welcome onboard to anyone who does!