How bad things are!

Thanks to Gordon for the heads up on the we blog cartoons site.

When I was looking through I just had to put this up as anyone who knows me well will understand! Lord help me avoid this type of mentality!

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Prophetic words?

There is an interesting article about a prophecy given by Rick Joyner over on the armybarmy blog today.

The first thing that struck me when I decided to take a look at the whole thing was that this 'prophetic word' was surrounded on all sides by advertising! In fact you would be hard pressed to find a more 'commercial' Christian website out there. It seems strange that a website about the prophetic needs finds it necessary to advertise the prophets books with every article thatis published!

The second thing is that although the article is not just about The Salvation Army, it is his main ilustration to support his word. Now the fact that Mr Joyner either didn't hear that the Army is growing worldwide at a fairly impressive rate suggests this is far less a prophecy, than it is Mr Joyners personal thoughts about the subject in general and The Salvation Army in particular!

The real shame is that whilst he does have some valid points about the Army in the west, he doesn't make that distinction and consequently he makes the statement that "they are no longer the army of salvation that General Booth foresaw." If he took some time to find out more about this Army of ours I'm sure he'd have to qualify his statements more!

Confession is good for the soul....

... or so I've heard!

Before coming and working in Latvia I spent more than 4 years working for the Anglican Church in the office that tries to link all the various provinces of the church together. At the time I was working in their accounts department and I take a lot of happy memories (as well as many unpleasant and depressing ones) away with me.

Having been brought up in TSA those years were my education into of the formal liturgical side of church. For that alone it is something that I value greatly.

One thing in particular that I have never really understood since this time is why we do not put more empathsis in our services on repentance. Ask me a few years ago and I would have been quite pro-sacramental in my outlook and part of this has shaped my thinking about this subject. In every eucharistic service before the sacraments are distributed there is an act of corporate repentance that is supposed to bring everyone in that service into a place where they can receive from God.

However, in the Army meetings I have been involved I can remember only a handful of times when we have been called to repent corporately. In fact, when I think about it, it is pretty uncommon in my experience for us to be challenged to repent individually within a meeting. How then can we be right with God if we are not willing to accept our own sin.

Is it pride? Is it lack of understanding?

I'm happy to admit that there are many dangers in the sin/repentance cycle. The most obvious being that we are in danger of falling for into the trap of sinning and then confessing without any real conviction of our sin. But I'm convinced that for many Salvationists they come to the Army on a Sunday and never even think about the need to repent of the sins they may have committed duing the week, and by not doing so are not opening themselves to the blessing of God in their lives.

The enemy's tricks

I've been reading Joshua for the last few days and have decided that it has to one of the most confusing books to read. God has given me a real passion against injustice, yet here is the same God telling the Israelites to inflict wholesale genocide against those who live in the promised land. Now I understand the reasons why this is, but it is still difficult for me to read!

Still I always try to get something out of what I am reading and once again this is the case even through the early chapters of Joshua. Yesterday I reached Chapter 9 which tells of the way that the Gibeonites deceived the Israelites and managed to avoid the destruction inflicted on all the city-states in the promised land.

This led me to think about how easy it is for us to be deceived by the enemy in our own lives. It many ways it was too easy for the Gibeonites to trick the Israelites by pretending to be something they weren't. It came down to one thing, the Israelites took their eyes of the Lord.

"The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the LORD." (Joshua 9:14).

After everything they had been through and the successes that God had already given them in their battles in the promised land! After seeing the famed walls of Jericho fall! Still the Israelites forgot to go first to God and seek His will.

How often do we make decisions based on what we see rather than what God sees? How often in life do we make a decision only for it to become clear later that it was the wrong one and wasn't what God wanted for our lives?

For the Israelites they continued to make this same mistake throughout the coming centuries. Various prophets came and went, and still they didn't learn their lesson.

For us it is important that we don't make the same mistake and that instead of doing what we want, we should instead try to keep our eyes fixed on Him.

Passion for souls

Over the last few weeks I've been reading a lot of stuff within the Army's rapidly increasing blogosphere about the way our movement should be going. Almost without exception the people expressing these views are voices of change, insisting that if the Army doesn't change it will die. For me, who has been praying that the Army will change for more than half of my 36 years, this is pretty encouraging.

However, there is something that is even more encouraging! There can be little doubt that we were called into being to be an Army of Salvation (the hint's in the name!!). Almost everything I've read has shown a real passion for what it is God called us into being for.

The important thing is that we reach the multitudes living in darkness and help bring them into a living, growing relationship with the Light of the World. How we do it is irrelevant!

Gambling update

God is good!

Last Thursday the Corps Officer and 14 soldiers from Bauska Corps attended the town council meeting when application for the new gambling centre would be voted on. The mayor of Bauska had apparently been positive about the application before the meeting, but during the meeting spoke against the application. The vote was then taken and there was a unanimous vote against the application.

So The Salvation Army has stood up for what we believe to be right and the prayer and support shown by many people against the evils of gambling has borne fruit.

God is good!

Normal service resumes

Sorry for the lack of updates but we've been away for a few days and since we got back I just haven't had time to sit down an write.

I've been to London with Zoe & Sian and they had the opportunity to relax and spend some time with friends and family. I however was there to work! The work entailed visits to THQ & IHQ to learn more about this job I find myself in these days. The time I spent was great as I was talking to people who actually knew what they were talking about and were able to give me a lot of advice that I can bring back to Latvia, and through it hopefully help TSA move forward in its mission here.

What's more, with the various thoughts I've been having over the last few weeks and the exploration I am making in my faith at the moment, my conversations have helped me understand even more what the Army is supposed to be and what my place in it is. I'm sure once I've sat down and had a chance to bring some clarity and structure to the thoughts in my head I'll share them through this forum.

The fight against Gambling

We have a corps in a town called Bauska and on Thursday 16th March 2006 at 14:00 there will be a hearing about the licencing of a gambling establishment in the same building as the corps. Obviously we have great concerns regarding this as all to often it is The Salvation Army who help families pick up the pieces caused by the addictive nature of gambling.

In our letter of complaint we have highlighted the nature of gambling and the fact that it affects most those who are least able to afford it.

However, we do appear to have the law on our side. According to Latvian Law:

“Arrangement of gambling is prohibited in:…. churches and cult buildings"

Now there are two slight problems with this as the building has 2 entrances on two different streets so the authorities might take a liberal understanding of the law. Also corruption is still a problem in this country and there is always the small possibility that people with interests in ensuring its establishment will have undue influence on the proceedings.

So I would ask those of you reading this to start praying against this application. For those of you on the other side of the Atlantic we are 7 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.

Can I ask you to add a comment if you are going to pray about this subject so that I can pass on your encouragement to the Corps Officer in Bauska!

Mission

There is a great discussion going on over at the URBANarmy under the title of "Morisy on Mission's False Dichotomy".

It's well worth going and having a read!

Part time Soldiers

Back in the 1980's there was a band called Blood & Fire and for me they are still one of the best TSA bands. Often contraversial and seen by many in authority as too political and dangerous they eventually were forced into disbanding. However their lyrics live on today to speak to a new generation.

Here are the words of their song "Part Time Soldier". At the time I didn't realise how prophetic these words were. Now I think of the soldiers in the many corps I've served in who were more like this:

He's a part time soldier but he doesn't want to win the war.
He doesn't like the fighting or know what he's fighting for.
He's a part time soldier and he loves to wear his uniform
But he backs away from danger and he shivers in the storm...

He's a part time soldier but he's never even shot to kill.
He's only in the Army because he's got some hours to kill.
He's a part time soldier but he doesn't want to get involved.
He thinks if he looks important all his problems will be solved...

There is a time that will come when all our enemies are strong
And we will be rejected and accused.
In that day we must stand tall - in that day we'll need to heed the battle-call
And none of us can be excused.
ARE YOU READY ?

He's a part time soldier but when the bullets start to fly
He loses motivation and he doesn't even try.
He's a part time soldier but his image comes before the fight
And Satan must be looking on and laughing at the sight !

Run away !
You never stay !
You missed the whole !
Every soul a battlefield !
ARE YOU READY ?

God help from ever again being a part-time soldier in this battle we are fighting.

PS: More information about this band can be found here

A new way to blog

I have a Palm handheld computer and Im testing some software I've found that should help me blog direct from it.

If this post shows up then you'll know I was successful.

The software can be found here

PS: Well it seems to have worked except for an error I made in the html and have amended live!

media

Over the weekend I got sent a new web link that has proven to be pretty good! I'm a fairly amateur multimedia presentation person but this site is full of stuff that makes me go "WOW!!!"

Here's more about them! (click on the image to go to their page)



Midnight Oil Productions. Telling the Story in a New Light through professional-quality worship media that your church can afford, and inspiring one-day seminars on the use of media in worship.

Snow

On Friday I was saying that I hoped the winter would be over soon. How fickle I am!

On Saturday we decided to go out for the day and went to the Ethnographic museum, which is basically a collection of buildings from all over Latvia. It's the first time we've been during winter and it looks totally different.

We spent about an hour wandering around, trudging through knee deep (well knee deep for Sian) snow and just enjoying ourselves as a family.

What's more I even managed to walk on water...



... well frozen water anyway! Its our 5th winter here and I finally got round to walking out onto the ice of a lake (NB: don't try this in England as you'll probably fall through!!). Here the ice can be up to 50cm thick (one and half foot for those who still like imperial).

random ramblings

Sian is sick again. Thankfully its nothing major but she cannot seem to shake off the cold she has been having. In herself she's fine but has a very annoying cough that seems to strike worst between 12 midnight and 1:00am. This means everyone wakes up and we're all tired! Hopefully she won't be feeling too bad over the weekend and we'll get the chance to go out a little bit.

We've got loads of snow at the moment and there is more forecasted for today. This winter seems to be going on forever and we've got temperatures of around -4°C to -8°C for the next few days as well. Hopefully the weather will start to change in the not too distant future!

Technorati tags: Sian sickness winter