One Date -- Two Milestones!

February 11, 2009 – just one year ago today – Fan the Flame first began; a small, insignificant pinpoint in the cyberspace blogosphere, really.

It started because of an incessant urging from God’s Spirit within me. You know that feeling…? Well this was one of those things that He just wouldn’t let up about (I guess that’s what’s meant by incessant, huh?). But I wrestled with the insecurity of thinking that I really didn’t have anything unique or significant to add to what others had said – and continue to say – so much better than me. I mean, c’mon…if you’ve ever read anything on this site, you’ve figured out pretty quickly that I’m not exactly what you’d call a scholar, right? I don’t possess any particularly special insights, and there’s certainly no one waiting in line to label me an intellectual! But still, God had lit something within me that I couldn’t shake – a 21st century “burning in my bones,” so to speak. So He just kept poking at my heart in that way of His, prodding me to do some small thing that might be used to, well…“fan the flame” of Christian passion, holy living, and Army mission.

So if FtF has ever – in any way – been useful, challenging, or encouraging to your Christian life, thanks be to God and His constant nudging! So may this Flame, as well as the flame of your holy passion, burn hotter and brighter in the days ahead of us.

Now let me tell you about the other flame that God ignited on this date…

On February 11, 1978 – thirty two years ago now(!) – Barbara Leidy and I became Willis and Barbara Howell! God’s gifts and blessings are always more than we deserve, aren’t they? That’s certainly the case with me being blessed with a life-partner like Barbara.

As often happens with the gifts God gives us, I have to admit that when we were first married, I didn’t come anywhere close to grasping the extent of the blessing I had been given with this woman, let alone all that she would come to mean to me (people who know me understand just how dim my bulb can be, at times!). But moment by moment, experience by experience, one day at time, the pages of thirty two years of life have steadily turned. His “Barbara gift” has continued to unfold, bringing delightful surprises and ever-deeper blessing. I find myself now filled with with wide-eyed wonder and gratitude to God for His incredible gift of Barbara to me.

Now as I look back from my present vantage point over the story of our life together – from then till now – I see that like any couple we’ve had our share of storms, challenges, and struggles (Barbara would call them “opportunities”). But what stands out as a testimony of God’s faithfulness to us, however, is that the problems and “opportunities” have only served to cause us to hold tighter in our love for each other and to drive our shared roots deeper into our dependency on God’s protection and grace.

For thirty two years, I’ve been blessed to have Barbara beside me, to feel her support of me, and to be on the receiving end of her love for me. Over this time, I’ve been rescued from any number of my own dumb choices or crazy ideas by her incredible, God-given insight, and have come to rely on the unimaginable peace of heart that comes through her prayers on my behalf. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I am far deeper in love with her, more strongly attached to her, and have a much greater appreciation for her now than ever before in my life. You see, we haven’t simply grown old together – we’ve matured together in Jesus.

I guess some flames just burn hotter over time…!

So here’s to anniversaries -- long ones and short ones -- and the Lord who works in and through them all to His glory.

I love you, Barbara…

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…!

Willis

The Critical Question

Here's a great question from John Piper...

"The critical question for our generation -- and for every generation -- is this: If you could have Heaven with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with Heaven if Christ were not there?"

Now that ought to get you thinking...!

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot...

Willis

Beware of Imitations

Here’s a question for you…

What is it that makes a Salvationist a Salvationist?

I think there would be general agreement that a case could be made to support the idea that not everyone who wears an Army uniform is a Salvationist. It's a complete reversal of the old axiom: clothes alone don’t make the man (or woman, as the case may be). Now of course an equal case could be made for the flip side of the issue in that not everyone who doesn’t wear a uniform – or attend a corps, or in some other way align themselves with the Army in a denominational sense – isn’t a Salvationist.

So if all that’s true, then let’s come back to the question… What’s the “it” that brands or identifies someone as a Salvationist? What defines one? What is “it” that sets the genuine article apart from the “wanna-be’s” and posers? Working from the assumption that we can readily recognize one when we see one, what is “it,” then, that would cause any one of us to sit up and say “now there’s a Salvationist”?

Here’s another way of asking it: Are Salvationists Salvationists because of their actions, or do they do what they do because they’re Salvationists?

To my thinking, I’m not sure that I could put my finger on any one thing that specifically sets the Salvationist apart from the Salvationist. But I’m convinced that the “it” factors that make the difference have to do with certain attitudes of the heart, such as a burning inner passion, a goading and compelling holy determination, a complete abandonment of self to such an extent that whatever grieves or breaks the heart of Jesus grieves or breaks the heart of the Salvationist to the point that they have to do something about it.

Lately I’ve been reading through Talks With Officers, an old Army book from way back in November of 1920. The book is simply a collection of old Officer Magazine interviews with General Bramwell Booth.

One of the interesting features of the book comes at the end of each of the interviews. After Bramwell has had his say about a given subject or concern, there is a closing quote from his father, William. Now I have no idea as to whether Bramwell asked that these specific quotes be included or if the editor added them on his own (NOTE: One way or another, however, the quotes would’ve had to have Bramwell’s approval. If he didn’t choose them himself, he certainly would have had to give his endorsement of their addition before the book ever got within a mile of a publisher.). Either way, the quotes are highly motivating and thought provoking.

Here’s one that caught my attention. It relates to this very matter of Salvationist vs. Salvationist :

If you are a Salvationist, your lips will say so; your clothes will say so; your holy life will say so; your prayers and tears and songs will say so; your standing up for God in the face of a perverse and rebellious generation will say so; your efforts to save people from sin , and devils, and Hell will say so. The word of the Lord will be as fire in your bones, it will compel you to speak – that is confess your Lord.

While there cannot be the possession of Salvation without the profession, there can be the profession without the possession. You can have the form of a thing without the spirit which the form represents.

-- William Booth

The guy sure had a clear way of putting things, wouldn’t you say?

So let’s use Booth’s description above as the basis for a little exercise in self-examination…

If someone were to follow you or me around every minute of every day for, say, a solid month – listening in on all of our conversations, taking note of everything we wore and what it communicated about our values, observing our lifestyle and attitudes, documenting the TV shows and movies we watch, the books and articles we read, the music that entertains us, hearing our prayers, keeping a record of the passions that stir us – what would they conclude at the end of that month? Salvationist, or Salvationist?

It’s kind of like telling the difference between a genuine, first quality watch – built with all the materials and precision Swiss craftsmanship that allows it keep accurate time – and the cheap look-alike, knock-offs that are sold on the streets of some large metropolitan cities. Put the two side-by-side, and they look almost identical at first glance. But the pretender just can’t stand up to a closer examination. There are shortcomings and inconsistencies in the fake that just aren’t there in the authentic Swiss watch. And before long you’re aware that the performance difference between the two will only become more and more evident over time (no pun intended). You see real quality isn’t cheap. It comes at a cost, and you know it when you see it.

The same is true when it comes to the quality of a genuine Salvationist spirit. It can be cheaply imitated, but it can never be truly duplicated by any artificial means. Oh, let’s be clear…the pretend version can be made to look similar to the real thing. But like the watch, over time the difference only becomes more and more obvious. You see, the real spirit can only come from the real Spirit. And while it’s available to everyone, only those willing to pay the price of complete self-surrender actually receive it. And again like the real Swiss watch, you know “it” when you see it.

What was it the General said…?

While there cannot be the possession of Salvation without the profession, there can be the profession without the possession. You can have the form of a thing without the spirit which the form represents.

So what about you…? Real or imitation? Salvationist or Salvationist?

Here’s a thought – why not ask God to give you His answer since He’s the one who does, in fact, take note of all we do and why we do it.

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…!

Willis