Fan the Flame

Who,me?

2010-05-21T15:42:00.008-04:00

Here’s a classic quote from William Booth’s excellent little book Purity of Heart. Maybe you’ve seen it…

"A Pure Heart will make you a blessing to those around you, and that not merely as a result of what you do, but from the fact of what you are. (NOTE: The emphasis is mine. This is a h-u-g-e point, as “being” will always trump mere “doing.” – W). People will, no doubt, be drawn to love Christ, and seek Salvation, and fight for The Army by what you say and sing. Your appeals and your prayers will all affect them; but if, in addition, you possess this treasure, they will also be led to God and holiness and Heaven by what they see you are!" (again, the emphasis is mine – W)

– General William Booth
Purity of Heart

Holiness of heart, of life, of mind, of attitude, of purpose, of mission… These hallmarks were all at the core of Army teaching, emphasis, theology, and practice. After all, we identified ourselves, and saw ourselves very much as a holiness movement. The telltale marks of a holy life were easily seen by everyone from the proverbial “poor lost girl upon the streets” and men living under bridges, to the aristocracy and royalty.

But fast-forward to today and answer this question – Are we still seen as holy people who are part of a larger holiness movement?

Unfortunately, the answer is a frustrating “that depends..."

Why the lack of a definite answer? Because the truth of the matter is that there really is no corporate, all-inclusive answer. The question can only be answered by YOU as an individual. Not the General, not the Territorial Commander, not the Doctrine Council, not your corps officer, but YOU.

You see, it’s this simple: The Army will only be seen as what YOU decide and show it to be. That’s the point Booth was making in the quote above.

So if we use the everyday lives of those who wear the name “Salvationist” as our measuring stick – and you already know that everyday lifestyle, habits, and actions are among the most accurate measurements people around us have for determining what the Army is and how the Army behaves – could we still be accurately described as holy people who are part of a larger holiness movement, as mentioned above?

Here’s the simple fact of the matter, gang… People see who and what we are. That is, they quickly connect the dots that our lives, words, attitudes, and actions give them, and arrive at their own conclusion. The Army will be seen as a holiness movement only if others see you and me living holy lives.

So whaddya say…? Let’s go for it!

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…!

Willis

Covenant Thoughts

2010-05-06T13:51:00.009-04:00

Lately, I’ve found myself thinking over and pondering the nature of covenant. Partly because the Prayer Warriors session is only a couple of weeks away from prayerfully signing their Officers Covenant , which is always a very moving ceremony for me. And each year, as Covenant Sunday approaches, I’ve also made it a practice to re-read James Garlow’s excellent little book on the subject – cleverly entitled The Covenant – as well as Commissioner Ed Read’s classic Keepers of the Covenant.

Add to all this the fact that I’ve recently had the chance to read through the manuscript of a fine, soon-to-be-published book on covenant by a Canadian Salvationist.

All in all, I’ve been enjoying a fantastic reminder of the unique covenant relationship I’ve entered into with God, as a Salvationist and as an officer.

Each of us, as Salvationists, has willingly bound ourselves to God by at least one of three different covenants: the Junior Soldier Promise, the Soldier’s Covenant (previously The Articles of War), and the Officer's Covenant. The terms, declarations, and promises we commit to in these covenants very much defines how we relate to God and others, and describes what people can expect of us by way of our actions and values.

In the forward to Commissioner Read’s book, then-General Paul Rader shared well-worded insights about the relationship between Salvationism and covenant when he wrote:

If there is one thing that sets Salvationists apart in these times more than any other it is that Salvationists are people of Covenant. If you want to know what makes the Army tick at its best, then you must understand the compelling significance of Covenant. A single woman officer refuses to abandon her post in a region exploding in cruel violence. A young couple defies all the stereotypes of their generation in a willingness to reach the people of a country recently reclaimed from Marxism. A former officer in his nineties in Communist China is still loyal to his calling after 45 years of separation from all the usual supports of his Salvationism. A man and wife whose marriage is under stress press their way through to a deeper commitment to one another and to their family and future. An aging husband devoted himself entirely to the care of his now helpless wife whose darkening mind the kindly light of reason has long since been denied. It’s all about Covenant.

…This is an era of contractual negotiation, of ensuring that one’s options are open, that one always preserves the chance to cut and run when the going gets tough or the constraints of commitment too binding. Covenant is a very different arrangement. Benefits and options, important as they may be, are not the issue

…We never needed to understand [Covenant] more than now. It is vital to the understanding of every Salvationist who may have been dedicated under an Army flag, later sealing their Soldier’s Covenant as they entered the family of faith and enlisted in this global fighting force. [Covenant] is what makes members into soldiers, and faithful attenders into fighting units. It is what makes otherwise sincere supporters the very stuff that makes an Army.

Tell me…when was the last time you read through the covenant(s) that you’ve promised, and signed before God? Why not take a look today and see the extent to which your life matches what you’ve promised?

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…

Willis

Mind the Gap

2010-04-20T09:36:00.012-04:00

Recently, I was living in London as a delegate to the Army’s International College for Officers (“ICO” in Armyspeak). All in all, it was an extremely memorable experience, spiritually, relationally, as well as culturally!

Living in any culture that’s different from your own, however, always requires some degree of getting used to. Take Americans going to England, for example… Although both countries speak the same language (more or less), you have to get used to the fact that there are words common to both cultures while having completely different meanings. These differences run the range from being innocently funny to sometimes embarrassing or potentially offensive! It takes getting used to the fact that the two countries have completely opposite ideas as to which side of the road you should drive on. Now this is no big issue if you’re a passenger in a vehicle, right? You just sit in your seat and enjoy the ride. But this “which-side-of-the-road-does-traffic-come-from" difference can be hugely life-threatening if you’re a pedestrian! I never got the hang of which way to look before crossing the street. In fact, it was nothing short of God’s grace and protection that allowed me to leave England before I became a hood ornament on a London taxi!

Let me focus on another point of English culture for just a moment. Specifically, I want to call attention to the little three word phrase that you regularly see or hear when you travel by way of the London rail system – “Mind the gap.” Those three words are prominently posted on signs as well as stenciled on the edge of train and subway (“tube”) platforms. And when the train you’ve been waiting for pulls into your station, you’ll also frequently hear a crisp, English-accented robotic voice cautioning you again to “Mind the gap, please.”
The constant written and verbal reminder is a safety thing. It’s intended to continually reinforce the point that the presence of a “gap” represents potential danger.

This truth has an application for Christians, too.

You see, unless we’re careful and intentional about such matters as how we live, what we value, what motivates us, and how we care for our souls, dangerous inconsistencies – “gaps” – can develop between what we profess and what people actually see.

Now let’s face it… There’s a long list of areas and aspects of our spiritual development that can lead us down one of the many roads to “Gap-ville.” But I’d like to focus on a particular one that many believers seem to fall into. As I said, this isn’t the only gap believers fall into, and perhaps it’s not even the widest one. But from my experience, it’s among the most popular of gaps that we seem to step into: compartmentalization.

Compartmentalization happens when a believer, instead of seeing their life as a consistent, related, connected whole, views his/her life as having different sections or unrelated, independent “compartments.” They have a professional life compartment, a personal life compartment, social life compartment, and so on. Each compartment carries its own set of rules, standards, and dynamics, and allowances. And to their thinking, what happens within the sphere of one life compartment really ought to have no bearing, influence, or consequence on another.

A few years back, an officer was talking to me about his upcoming furlough. “When I go on vacation,” he said, "I’m not an officer...!”

“Really?” I answered. “So then what are you? Who are you?”

He wasn’t simply referring to the fact that for the time of his furlough he’d have a period of time where he was out from under the daily responsibilities of phone calls and assorted meetings. No, he explained to me that he would regularly live a completely different life for the period of time he was on vacation. He was making very clear the fact that he compartmentalized his life and ministry. It made me think of the old country preacher’s line, “if you ain’t who you are, you are who you ain’t!”

Now let’s be realistic…each of us have a number of roles we’re responsible to fulfill, right? But unlike a pearl necklace which is a series of independent components merely strung together, our lives are meant to be more like cut and polished diamonds, where our roles and responsibilities are nothing more than facets of the one stone which help to add beauty and uniqueness to it.

Check this out from The Message…

You're fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent.

But if you're not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways inconsistent

with what you believe…then you know that you're out of line.

If the way you live isn't consistent with what you believe, then it's wrong.

Romans 14:22-23

So when you look at your life, do you see a consistent whole, or a fragmented, inconsistent, sectioned-off series of differing compartments? As believers, and especially as Salvationists, each of us would do well to persistently “mind the gap.”

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot...!

WIllis

One Date -- Two Milestones!

2010-02-11T11:45:00.013-05:00

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

2010-02-09T15:44:00.010-05:00

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

2010-02-01T07:53:00.010-05:00

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

Daily Bread, Daily Blessing

2010-01-25T17:18:00.005-05:00

Sooner or later, lettuce wilts, meat spoils, milk turns, apples get soft and mushy, bananas turn black… In short, food rots.

Hardly an insight, I know….

But who of us has never experienced the unique stink of a rotten egg? Is there anyone reading this who has never mistakenly swallowed a big gulp of milk gone bad? Can we each relate to the strong churning in your stomach that happens when you find and – foolishly – open the mysterious container long buried in the back of the refrigerator, only to find – and smell – the black, fuzzy thing that 3 months ago was a leftover half of a tomato?

So let me say it again – in spite of our best efforts to prevent it, eventually all food rots.

This is why when we’re hungry, none of us want a year-old orange, or a piece of chicken that has sat opened and exposed on your counter top for the last 3 weeks. No, we want something that’s new, unopened, just-baked, or freshly picked from the valley of the Jolly Green Giant. This is also why we need a constant supply of fresh food, because what was good for yesterday may not, in fact, be good for today.

Evidently, even Heaven’s bread rots. Way back when the Hebrews first left Egypt for the Promised Land, they had to wrestle with the rot-factor of manna sent from the very hand of God. You remember the story…?

God had miraculously delivered the entire nation of Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. Perhaps as many as 2 million people were suddenly on a group hike away from the only place they’ve ever known – Egypt – and the only life they’ve ever known – slavery. As they left in something of a rush (see Ex. 12:33), they understandably took what food they could, including, according to Scripture, their unleavened bread dough (Ex 12:34).

Well you certainly don’t have to be a biblical scholar to figure out that regardless of the amount or variety of food they might have had with them, there’s no way it could last very long when you’re trying to feed 2 million people a day, not to mention the effects of desert heat on unpreserved food. And sure enough, not long after “…the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt…” the Israelites are giving Moses an absolute fit over the fact that they now don’t have anything to eat. Moses passes their complaint up the line to God.

The Lord said to Moses, "I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel. So tell them at twilight you will eat meat, and every morning you will eat all the breayou want. Then you will know I am the Lord your God.'"

That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost were on the desert ground. When the Israelites saw it, they asked each other, "What is it?" because they did not know what it was.

So Moses told them, "This is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. The Lord has commanded, 'Each one of you must gather what he needs, about two quarts for every person in your family.'"

So the people of Israel did this; some people gathered much, and some gathered little. Then they measured it. The person who gathered more did not have too much, nor did the person who gathered less have too little. Each person gathered
just as much as he needed.

Moses said to them, "Don't keep any of it to eat the next day." But some of the people did not listen to Moses and kept part of it to eat the next morning. It became full of worms and began to stink, so Moses was angry with those people.

Every morning each person gathered as much food as he needed, but when the sun became hot, it melted away.
Exodus 16:11-21 (NCV)

Time after time throughout the Exodus story God has to continually drive home the point to the Israelites that He wanted them to depend on Him constantly and completely for protection, guidance, blessing, and – as this story illustrates – provision. “Don’t try to stockpile my blessings. What you gathered yesterday doesn’t count for today. And all that I provide for you today is just that – for today. You don’t have to s-t-r-e-t-c-h what I give in the hope of making it last longer. I won’t ask you to warm up bit of blessing leftovers that you have to try to preserve somehow. I don’t work that way. Rather, I have an infinite store of graces, and gifts, and mercies, and blessings that I’m anxious to share with you daily. And make no mistake, I WILL PROVIDE!”

So God gives them a practical object lesson to drive home His point. God caused the manna from heaven to rot – quickly.

When Jesus taught His disciples – the original bunch as well as the present-day group of us – to ask the Father to “give us this day our daily bread,” it wasn’t because refrigerators and modern food storage techniques hadn’t yet been invented! No, it was a manna reference. Jesus was pointing to the fact that God still wants to be depended on to provide the daily gifts, graces, and blessings we need. Why? Because, in the figurative sense, God’s blessings grow stale when we try to hoard and hold them past their daily expiration date.

In spite of that fact, many Christians (in the West, anyway) are frustratingly content to settle for a once-a-week, pre-packaged Sunday serving of God’s blessing. Now understand, many of these same folks will move heaven and earth to ensure they have something fresh and nourishing to eat – multiple times a day! But when it comes to the daily care and nourishing of their souls, rather than spending time each day gathering a ration of new and nourishing blessings fresh from the hand of God, they choose to gnaw on some fuzzy out-of-date bit of spiritual leftovers of gifts and graces that simply were not meant to last beyond the day they were given. And then, adding insult to injury, they drag themselves around in their spiritually under-fed and weakened state, wondering why it is they have little or no spiritual stamina and/or power!

It’s just not the way God set it up to work! His faithfulness in providing for our daily soul-nourishment is custom made to intersect with our obedience in coming to Him to receive. And when His provision and our obedience come together you have a believer who has the understanding described in Annie Johnson Flint’s classic hymn (SASB #579):

He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase,
To added afflictions he addeth his mercy,
To multiplied trials he multiplies peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father's full giving is only begun.

His love has no limits, his grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of his infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

Don’t let God’s blessings rot out from under you. Instead, go to Him every day for more!

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…!

Willis

Now THAT Left a Mark!

2010-01-18T17:47:00.012-05:00

Have you noticed how some people go to great – sometimes even extreme – lengths in marking, piercing, or modifying themselves? Some do it to stand out from the crowd as an expression of their individuality. Others mark themselves they way they do in order to blend in, as in some settings and cultures tattoos or other body markings are a visible sign of association or affiliation. Whatever the reason(s) behind the action, those who have marked themselves in some way are usually loud and proud of what they’ve done, wanting everyone to take notice.

One result of today’s explosion in the popularity of body art was the fellow who not long ago offered his bald head as advertising space! For a price, he was inviting businesses to “…send me a tattoo or have me go to a tattoo parlor and get a temporary ink tattoo on my forehead and this will be something [you] choose, a company name or domain name, perhaps [your] logo…"

Hmmm…

One of the first Sundays after I arrived in my appointment at the Evangeline Booth College, just a couple of years ago now, I noticed a number of the cadets – men as well as women – walking around our campus with bandages of various sizes stuck to their arms, legs, ankles, and Lord knows what all else. Some had a single, relatively small bandage, while others had so many they looked like apprentice stunt doubles from a slasher horror movie! It was another one of those things that make you go, “hmmm…” So going up to one guy whose forearm was wrapped with a 3-inch Ace bandage, I asked what had happened to his arm. “Oh, nothing,” he said, “we’re just required to cover our tattoos when we’re in uniform!”

I’ve got to tell you that while I am not what you’d call a “fan” of tattoos and body art, when measured on the “concern-o-meter” I’m far less interested with what marks or identifies someone on the outside. I take much more notice of what seems to mark a person on the inside that works its way out into behavior and attitude. (Note to any Southern Territory cadets who may happen to read this and get the wrong idea: NO! This does NOT mean that you can go out and get more tattoos!!)

If you’re a believer, did you know that at the point you invited Jesus into your heart, GOD marked you? It’s true -- check it out…

“[I]n Christ, God put his special mark of ownership on you

by giving you the Holy Spirit that he had promised.”
Ephesians 1:13 (NCV)

You see, with salvation comes an inner mark – by way of an inner Presence – which God intends for people to see in us.

Tell me...what person having just gotten a new tattoo or piercing doesn’t show it off to friends, family, and those they happen to meet (assuming, of course, that the “artwork” is placed in a location socially acceptable to be seen by the general public!)? So why should it be any different following the experience of being marked spiritually? Christ’s “artwork” within us should be easily seen in the way we live, the choices we make, the words we use, the attitudes we display. But far too often, believers shy away from letting their inner Jesus-marks be seen by those around them, preferring instead to hide what God intended to be noticeable. Tell me…just how does that help to promote and advance the Kingdom we claim to belong to?

Years ago, we used to sing a chorus that went like this:

I would that others might see
The marks of Jesus in me.
For they will not believe,
If they do not perceive
The marks of Jesus in me.

There’s a lot of truth in those simple words. It’s so much easier for someone to believe a witness that is clearly and openly seen.

I wonder...What do people see in your life? Do others see the evidence of His marks in you?

Since Jesus willingly and very publically took onto Himself the marks of punishment and death that belonged to each of us, how is it that some Christians try to justify or rationalize hiding the marks of His life and influence within them?

Coming back to the matter of the cadets with the bandages… I told them to stop the Band-Aid silliness. Remove the bandages and let the world see you for who they are – warts, tats, and all!

If you’ve been an “undercover Christian,” consider this an encouragement to do the same thing in your witness. Peel off whatever has hidden your Christ-marks. Be open and proud about the work Jesus has done, and is still doing in you.

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…!

Willis

Another Unsung Hero Gone

2009-12-03T18:50:00.003-05:00

Hi…remember me?
Sorry it’s been so long between posts, but over the last month or so, my family and I have been dealing with issues of life’s journey to death. Barbara’s dad died a couple of weeks back. This, of course, has been followed by the emotionally turbulent transition for her mom into this new chapter of life without her husband.

Barb’s father, Major Ralph Leidy, was one of the many outstanding, yet mostly unsung officers who quietly go about their mission of influencing lives for Christ without a lot of fanfare, flash, or hoopla. As I prepared to conduct his funeral, I learned that during their years as corps officers, the Leidys sent some 26 people(!) to Training (5 of who were even in attendance at his funeral!). And get this…every single one of those 26 kept their officer covenant and served right through to their own retirement! Quite a feat in this day where officership more and more resembles the “Hokey Pokey” dance – “you put your whole self in, you take your whole self out, you put your whole self in, and you shake it all about...”

Ralph’s commitment to finding those who are lost continued right up to his death. The Sunday before he died, the Clearwater Citadel Band came to his apartment and played him a mini concert (he was a life-long 2nd baritone player). As the band played, a number of neighbors and curious onlookers came out and gathered to listen, including a particular neighbor from across the street. When the band finished playing, this fellow came up to the bandmaster, pointed to my father-in-law and announced to those gathered, “This man has been trying to get me saved for years! And this (meaning the expression of love shown by the band as they played for Ralph) might just get it done!”

Nice…

I love the term we Salvationists use when one of our soldiers pass away: Promoted to Glory. Even as I type the words, I sense the strong but unwritten “hallelujah” that so often accompanies the phrase. One reason Promoted to Glory stands out for me is that there are a number of those among us who richly deserve various forms of earthly promotion who – for one reason or another – are overlooked or otherwise passed over. Maybe they didn’t stand out as much as so-and-so. Maybe the job they did never brought them anywhere near the limelight. Maybe all kinds of other possibilities… But God sees to this final promotion. And none of His faithful ones are ever overlooked. None of them passed over or forgotten.

So here’s to the passing of one of our quiet giants. While we’re still blessed to still have a number of others in our ranks who fit that description, my fear is that their number is silently dwindling as we focus on so much else around us.

Hey, I have an idea… Maybe each of us could step in and help take up the slack. Let’s do what we can – whatever that may be – to make a difference for Jesus right where we are!

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…!

Willis

Safety Off!

2009-10-20T12:07:00.010-04:00

I enjoy the writing of Erwin McManus, who pastors a very unique gathering of believers in the Los Angeles area. McManus is one of those guys whose spirit seems to reflect the same kind of daring and passion that marked early Salvationists. Like them, he’s outspoken and uncompromising in his belief that the Church is at her best when she is involved with and interacting with the world outside the walls of our sanctuaries and citadels.

The quote below comes from his book An Unstoppable Force, subtitled daring to become the church God had in mind. As you’ll see, McManus warns of the danger of buying into some of the popular concepts and ideologies that have been embraced by much of the Church here in the West.

I think there’s a word here for the Army as well…

“Out of the community church context has come an unending parade of pop and bumper sticker theologies – the kind that gives us comfort for all the wrong reasons. One of these in particular has both misguided the church and diluted the calling of every believer who is shaped by it. You’ve heard it said that the safest place to be is in the center of God’s will. I am sure this promise was well intended, but it is neither true nor innocuous. When we believe that God’s purpose, intention, or promise is that we will be safe from harm, we are utterly disconnected from the movement and the power of God.

“I remember sitting in the home of a pastor and his wife just after they had finished seminary. They were tremendously gifted and had chosen to serve in a small community of a few thousand residents. We began to talk about their future, and I suggested they move to a major metropolitan center, such as Los Angeles. I was stunned not so much by their response, but by the rationale behind it. With great passion, they told me that God would never expect them to do that. God would never subject their children to the danger and corruption of the city. I remember leaving that night wondering what was happening to the church. If those preparing for leadership are looking for the safe place, who will lead the church into the dangerous places?

“Somehow we have missed the reality of the biblical experience. From Abraham to Paul, those who followed God were subjected to great dangers. Paul describes his journey with Jesus as anything but safe.

“In 2 Corinthians 11:23-28, Paul writes, ‘Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.'

"The truth of the matter is that the center of God’s will is not a safe place but the most dangerous place in the world! God fears nothing and no one! God moves with intentionality and power. To live outside God’s will puts us in danger; to live in his will makes us dangerous.”

I think he's nailed it!

God bless us with more Salvationists throughout the world who are eager to throw safety and caution to the wind by choosing to be in and stay in the "dangerous" center of God’s will. Give us more officers and leaders who willingly offer to serve in the dangerous places of our society and culture. And bless us with the holy passion to be dangerous to all of hell for Christ’s sake.

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…!

Willis

Fuel for your Flame -- Catherine Booth

2009-10-10T21:20:00.004-04:00

As yet another follow up to the September 27 posting below, here’s still more fuel for your inner flame from one of our hottest firebrands – Catherine Booth. In spite of the fact that she wrote these words more than a century ago, trust me – you’ll still feel the heat her godly passion generates.

“Heat burns. Hot saints set on fire the hearts of other saints. They singe the consciences of sinners, burn the fingers of Pharisees, melt the hearts of backsliders, and warm up those who have left their first love.

“Hot saints are mighty The Spirit is not given by measure to them. They may not be very intellectual or learned, but their heat makes more impression on the hearts of sinners, and stirs more opposition from hell that all the intellect and learning of a whole generation of lukewarm professors… Hot saints are more than a match for their enemies. Satan himself is afraid of them…

“To be hot ensures opposition from the world. The world hates hot saints, because the look with contempt on its pleasures, set at naught its maxims and customs, trample on its ambition and applause, ignore its rewards, abjure its spirit, and live altogether above its level… [The world] can tolerate lukewarm religionists – rational, decent people, who appreciate this world as well as the next, and can see how to make the best of it; but these ‘hot,’ ‘pestilent,’ ‘mad,’ ‘fools,’ who obtrude their religion everywhere who are at everybody about their souls, who are always talking about God, death, judgement, heaven and hell – ‘Away with them! They are not fit to live...’

"Let me remind you, in conclusion, that to be hot ensures God’s special favor, protection, and fellowship, and our final victory… Whereas to be lukewarm is to be spewed out of His mouth, which indicates special dislike, disgrace, and final abandonment. WHICH WILL YOU BE, HOT OR LUKEWARM?”

– Catherine Booth
Practical Religion

Keep your fire hot and your altar ready…!

Willis

Fuel for your Flame -- T. Henry Howard

2009-10-07T15:40:00.007-04:00

As you see from the previous couple of posts, I’m still offering quotes and insights from past Salvationists intended to focus on ways we can keep our inner burn well-stoked.

For this post, I’ll let Commissioner T. Henry Howard throw a few more logs on your fire…

"How shall we feed the fire or fan the flames? That is the question for us. We may rest assured of God’s willingness to cooperate in the fuel supply if we are determined to keep the Fire burning. In all our spiritual life and service there is the principle of action and reaction as between God and the soul. His offer of fullness of blessing does not relieve us of personal responsibility… If, therefore, at any time we see a decline or loss of the fire either in ourselves or in others, we can be certain that the decline or loss was due to the unfaithfulness or neglect of the person concerned.

"[There is] the need of constant care if our heart-fires are to be maintained. Fuel must be carried to the altar in the form of worship and loyal devotion and love and glowing aspirations; the sacrifices of righteousness and praise must be there; renewed consecrations, sanctified aims, high ideals, and enthusiasm are as the beaten oil of the sanctuary. These forms of fuel we must add to the fire."
Commissioner T. Henry Howard
Fuel for Sacred Fire

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…!

Willis

Fuel for your Flame -- S.L. Brengle

2009-10-06T09:53:00.008-04:00

In light of my September 27 epistle, I thought I might offer a few follow-up postings of what could be considered high-octane fuel for your spiritual fire.

Let’s start by letting Commissioner Brengle weigh in on the subject…

"What is this fire? It is love. It is faith. It is hope. It is passion, purpose, determination. It is utter devotion. It is a divine discontent with formality, ceremonialism, lukewarmness, indifference, sham and noise, parade and spiritual death. It is singleness of eye and a consecration unto death. It is God the Holy Ghost burning in and through a humble, holy, faithful man…

"This burning is the spirit that led the young men soldiers of a corps to come to the officers many a night and ask for the key of the hall that they might spend half the night in prayer, until their corps became the banner corps of a dozen States. It is the spirit that inspired an officer in a desperately hard corps in a city full of indifference and opposition to have an all-night of prayer every week with two or three kindred souls who shared with him the burden, until God moved the whole city, and the Mayor became his friend and protector, and the city officials and pastors attended his Sunday afternoon meetings in the City Hall, and the people gave him money for a new hall and instruments for a big band, while the platform was filled with soldiers who had caught the flame from their officer.

"Do you ask, How can we get the fire? I answer, Not by feasting, but by fasting; not by playing, but by praying; not by sleeping and slothfulness, but by watching and by diligently seeking God and the souls that wander from Him; not by skimming The War Cry once a week and reading newspapers and devouring the comic sections and sporting news, but by searching the Scriptures."

Commissioner S.L. Brengle
—Resurrection Life and Power

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…!

Willis

Why "Fan the Flame"?

2009-09-27T20:11:00.013-04:00

What sort of image does the word fire conjure up in your mind?

I’d guess that most folks will turn to some kind of mental picture of that flaming phenomenon that grills our steak and toasts our marshmallows at a backyard cookout, brings a warm and comfy ambiance to a cold winter’s night, or causes billions of dollars of disaster and loss throughout the world when it blazes out of control.

For me and many other Christians, however, fire in the spiritually symbolic sense of the word is a highly significant and powerful image. For us, fire calls up impressions of holy passion, zeal, a driving purpose, an inner “burn.”

You don’t have to read a whole lot of early Army history before you come to understand that fire in the spiritual, “holy passion” use of the term was a very popular concept with Salvationists back in the day. Our authors wrote about it, our musicians composed songs about it, sermons were preached about it. We emblazoned it on everything from our flags to our jerseys… Everywhere they turned, early Salvationists were encouraged to live lives that were described as being “on fire.”

I’ve gotta tell you, I love that!

But regardless of whether we’re talking about literal, burning fire or fire in its spiritually symbolic sense, let’s agree that there are some fundamental principals that are common to both. A short sampling of those would include:

Both need fuel in order to continue burning. Remove the fuel and before long you’ve killed the fire.

Fire – literal or spiritual – must be respected. You’d better not be careless with it or around it (one of the earliest lessons learned in childhood, but not often taught in the spiritual context, I’m afraid).

Unless you’re careful, fire can be extinguished

If left to itself, the natural tendency of any fire is to go out.

I’m sure you’re aware of the fact that there are some incredible fire stories in the Bible, such as:

God talking to Moses from out of a bush that’s somehow on fire but doesn’t actually burn (Ex 3-4:17)

Elijah calling down God’s fire on the water-logged offering on top of Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18:19-39), as well as on his would-be captors (2 Kings 1:9-15)

God sending fire on David’s offering at Araunah’s threshing floor (1 Chron 21:18-26)

The coming of the Holy Spirit as symbolized by “tongues of fire” that rested on each of 120 people gathered in Jerusalem (Acts 2:1-4)

For me, one particular fire passage highlights a spiritual principle that challenges both my life and ministry, as well as forms the foundational purpose for this blog site. It’s found in the book of Leviticus.

Now before looking at the passage itself, it might be helpful to point out a particular fact about Leviticus...

Did you know that unlike Genesis and Exodus, Leviticus is arranged more categorically or topically as opposed to chronologically? In other words, Leviticus is more of a “procedures manual” or “handbook” than it is a narrative. Why is that important to know, you ask? Because it means that what you read in the book’s earlier chapters don’t necessarily happen before what you read in later chapters.

Tuck that little point away in your understanding (you’ll need it in just a moment) and let’s pick up the action taking place in Leviticus 8-9.

It’s describing the formal ordination – the commissioning, if you like – of the Hebrew priesthood. It was an eight day affair, according to the text, that required following a long list of instructions and particulars. The details include everything from the various types of offerings that God called for as part of the process, to the sorts of animals to be sacrificed, and the procedures to be followed.

Scroll ahead in the passage to the last offering being made on the last day of the event… Something amazing happened:

“Moses and Aaron entered the Tent of Meeting. When they came out they blessed the people and the Glory of God appeared to all the people. Fire blazed out from God and consumed the Whole-Burnt-Offering and the fat pieces on the Altar. When all the people saw it happen they cheered loudly and then fell down, bowing in reverence.” Leviticus 9:23-24 (MSG)

Understand, this was different from every other altar fire they had ever used or seen. This fire didn’t rely on any man-made ignition methods. This was God-fire – flashing down from the Father Himself – that burned up the offering on the altar. Proof of His blessing, His approval, and His presence.

And the record points out that when the people saw this, they were filled with praise to God as well as a strong sense of holy awe.

Incredible!!

Set all that on the back burner for a moment, and let’s go “back to the future” by flipping pages from chapter 9, to orders from God given in chapter 6 (which actually were given after the chapter 9 miracle. This is what I was talking about earlier when I was explaining about Leviticus being generally more topical than chronological.).

Jumping in at verse 8 and reading through verse 13, God tells Moses to pass on some particulars to Aaron and the boys about burnt offerings. And as you read through these six verses of commandments and instruction, you find God hammering home a particular point about this holy fire He sent to crown their altar and offering. Three times in the passage He tells them – with each repetition being a little stronger than the one before – that they are now responsible to feed and care for what He has ignited. Check it out:

“…the fire must be kept burning on the altar.”
Lev 6:9

“The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out.”
Lev 6:12

“The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.”
Lev 6:13

Good old Matthew Henry adds an interesting insight on this passage:

The first fire upon the altar came from heaven (Lev 9:24), so that by keeping that up continually with a constant supply of fuel all their sacrifices throughout all their generations might be said to be consumed with that fire from heaven, in token of God's acceptance. If, through carelessness, they should ever let it go out, they could not expect to have it so kindled again. Accordingly the Jews tell us that the fire never did go out upon the altar, till the captivity in Babylon.
(from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by
Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

OK… Let’s look at this God-established principle in light of a present-day application.

A strong case could be made that as believers, God has in a very real sense “ignited” something in us. At the very instant of salvation, the Holy Spirit – who is symbolized by fire (coincidence…? Hmmm…I don’t think so!) – consumed our sin, flamed our hearts, and signaling His approval, His blessing, and His presence within us. And for those who’ve been willing, God has also lit a passionate Pentecostal fire of holiness that burns away anything within us that is unlike Jesus.

You see, I believe that God has faithfully done exactly what we’ve asked of Him, as time and time again we’ve thrown our heads back, raised our hands, lifted our voices, and zealously sung Booth’s words, “…send the fire!” From there, however, whether through carelessness, inattention, or sometimes just plain foolishness, far too many let that freshly God-sparked fire starve for fuel. With hardly as much as a notice – degree by degree – the inner heart-flame is allowed to gradually burn down, cool off, flicker, sputter, and then sadly go out. And listen gang…when Holy Ghost-fire goes out – when the fire of holy passion cools – there’s no amount of personal effort, or church attendance, or rule-keeping, or program involvement, or any other kind of “going through the motions” that will make a difference. Oh it might look a lot like the actions of an “on-fire” believer, but it’s all smoke and no flame. Only God can reignite the fire that’s gone out in a heart.

This is why I’m convinced that this Leviticus principle is so important. It’s code-red critical for us to understand and embrace the fact that once God has lit – or rekindled – a fire on the altar of our soul, we then carry the responsibility to keep that holy passion-flame well-fed, well-fanned and burning hot ; at all times and at all costs. “The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out!”

You know, this could possibly be how God plans to re-fire our Army. Not by way of some corporate, miraculous, Cecil B. DeMille kind of moment that so many look for, but rather something that starts smaller…like a spark that spreads from soldier to soldier, from town to city, from division to territory, until the world is once again ablaze with passionate, mission-minded Salvationists.

But for that to happen, this – like all fires – has to start somewhere.

I wonder…is it possible that you’re the tipping point for all this? That you’re the catalyst God wants to use? Could it be that the only thing needed to set it all in motion is for your heart-altar to ignite – or be rekindled – with the God-sent fire of holy zeal?

I dare you to ask Him. In fact, I double-dog dare you to offer yourself to God for the job! (NOTE: In the Southeastern U.S., a “double-dog dare” is the highest of all challenges! No one with even the smallest sense of honor among his peers can ever pass up the double-dog dare.)

And once He’s given you that fire, once you’re “burning”, do everything in your power to keep that flame well-fanned and fed. When you take care of your part, the door opens wide for God to do His through you.

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…!

Willis

Heroes

2009-08-28T19:22:00.014-04:00

I grew up in an age of heroes. Sports figures like Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays wowed and impressed the group of kids I ran with. Then we’d go home and watch the heroic adventures of TV cowboys such as Roy Rogers and the Lone Ranger. Heroes were just everywhere! What’s more is that this was also the golden age of superheroes. I can remember running around with my arms stretched in front of me in “flying” fashion while my Superman cape dramatically rippled and flowed in the breeze behind me (In reality my “cape” was an old dish towel that my mom had pinned to my shirt. But as far as I was concerned, it was the genuine article!)

But regardless of when or where you were born, there’s something in each of us that is drawn to the heroic, isn’t there?

Just think about it... Have you ever noticed just how many box office blockbusters over the years have centered on a heroic main character? Luke Skywalker, fearlessly steps forward to face-up to the Empire. Maximus, the Roman general, heroically refuses to surrender his honor. William Wallace, who, even in the face of his own execution courageously challenged his countrymen to believe they could actually be free.

And it’s not just movie heroes. We’re moved by the real-life soldier who has returned safely from a war zone, the fireman who has just put his life on the line to save people from a burning building, the policeman who rescues someone from a dangerous situation. Heroism tugs at our hearts.

You see, heroes are the embodiment of values that are important to us. And I believe that somewhere deep inside each of us is the secret desire to be heroic.

Salvationists…do you know that heroism is woven into the fabric of our heritage? In a sense it’s our birthright. The Army that you and I are part of has been passed to us by an incredible group of heroes. Heroism is in our spiritual DNA.

Beyond the well-known adventures and exploits of the Booths, Railton, Brengle, Booth-Tucker, and the like, we have truck-loads of records and accounts from around the world that demonstrate the heroic spirit of Salvationists whose names we likely have never heard of at all.

In their book, Be A Hero, Commissioner Wesley Campbell and Captain Stephen Court include some snapshots from the pages of our history that illustrate exactly what I’m talking about. Like this report sent to the War Cry from Major Wells (whoever he was) – a pioneer Officer in California:
"My heart is cheered. We are making the devil mad. Victory will come! Look
out for some martyrdom here in the near future – it is to come, for sure. Well,
we are saved to die, and don't care much where our bones are buried."

Don’t you love that?! No backing down, no compromising. No running away from the
enemy. Yeah, they’ll likely kill us and throw our bodies into some hole... Whatever...!

Campbell and Court also share this telegram sent from Captain Albert Brice to his Territorial Commander, back in 1887. For whatever reason, Brice was evidently facing life-threatening persecution. But rather than knuckling under to the pressure to quit, he decides to stay the course and keep doing what he was doing letting the results fall where they will. His message to the Commissioner simply said...

“Expecting to go to Glory Wednesday night.”

Albert Brice was actually expecting to die! Clearly, he had settled in his mind that such a possibility was simply part of the potential cost of doing business – the business of reaching those that others thought were unreachable. Mocking, beating, ridicule, scorn, possible death...it was all just part of the deal.

Friends, our history is filled with literally hundreds (thousands?) of these kinds of stories!

I have a small collection of early Army books that help to fuel for my passion. One of my favorites is a late 19th century Orders and Regulations for Field Officers (designated as a “Special Edition” intended “…for the use of Candidates for Officership”).

Part VIII of the book makes for particularly interesting reading as it covers such timely subjects as “How To Deal With Persecution”, “Mobs”, and “Riots” (just the sorts of issues your corps faces, right?). Part VIII also has a section that discusses an officer’s responsibilities to reach and save “Roughs” (criminals / gang members / violent types etc.). Here’s a direct quote from this section:
“Go to them. There are certain parts in every town where they are to be found. You need not be in a neighborhood a single day without knowing their haunts. But what if they kill you? Well, you must die. You have often sung and said that you would. Now, here’s a chance. Make up your mind to the worst; then perhaps he that would lose his life shall save it.” (emphasis added)
Remember, this is from Orders and Regulations!! It’s being put forward as the standard. Heroism is pointed to as the rule, not the exception. In fact it was an expectation! And our history records that many lived up to it. “Salvationism” was practically synonymous with heroism.

Is this still the case, I wonder, or have things changed in our more enlightened day and age?

Tell me…what’s expected of Salvationists where you live? What’s required of the soldiers at your corps? What standard are they held to? Is “just showing up” good enough? Is that all that’s asked or hoped for?

Using our heroic past as a backdrop, it just may be that there’s a message for the soldiers of today’s Salvation Army to be found in the following passage:
Remember those days in the past when you first learned the truth. You had a hard struggle with many sufferings, but you continued strong. Sometimes you were hurt and attacked before crowds of people, and sometimes you shared with those who were being treated that way. You helped the prisoners. You even had joy when all that you owned was taken from you, because you knew you had something better and more lasting.
So do not lose the courage you had in the past, which has a great reward. Hebrews 10:32-35 (NCV)
Learn from our past. Let it serve as a model. Hold to our heritage of heroism. Count the cost and be bold for Jesus. Allow God to stir and awaken your inner hero!

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot...!

Willis

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

2009-08-08T19:23:00.012-04:00

You remember the story of The Three Little Pigs, right? Early renditions and tellings of this standard fairy tale date back to at least the 1800’s. More recent versions include Disney’s classic 1933 cartoon as well as some more contemporary “politically correct” interpretations. Regardless of which adaptation you choose, the story line is basically the same.

In spite of this fact, however, let’s still have a quick review:

Three young pigs go out into the world to seek their fortunes and make a life for themselves. Two of the pigs are generally irresponsible and indifferent – wanting only to live and enjoy the moment – while the third pig approaches life from a more practical and intentional viewpoint.

Realizing that some sort of shelter will be needed, the first couple of pigs, you’ll recall, want to get the job done as quickly – and with as little effort – as possible They don’t want to be bothered with taking the time required to build sturdy, protective homes. After all, they’re now independent and eager to get on with their new lives and all that it offers. So one of them quickly throws together a house of straw while the other fashions bundles sticks into what he calls a home. Pragmatic pig #3, being far more deliberate and aware of the risks around him, builds his house out of sturdy bricks.

Enter one wolf with a craving for fresh pork.…

He goes to the first pig’s straw house, knocks at the door but is denied entrance (I wonder just how successful the wolf had been over the years in using this approach with other pigs…?). “No big deal,” thinks the wolf. And with hardly any effort at all – a huff here and a puff there – he removes the only flimsy barrier between him and a ham dinner (The fact that the wolf ate the pig is a small detail left out in Disney’s far less traumatic, more “family friendly” telling of the story).

Going up the road to pig number two’s stick house, the wolf has ideas about a second helping of bacon. As before, the pig doesn’t welcome the wolf (go figure!). But welcomed or not, the scene plays out pretty much like the previous pig-wolf encounter: a little huffing, a little puffing, a little blowing, and before you know it, the wolf enjoys a second course of pork chops.

Coming to the third pig’s brick house, the wolf is anticipates yet another helping of what has essentially proven to be a day-long ham fest. Once again he goes with the direct door-knocking approach, and for the third time is not invited in. Fine – time for the huffing, puffing, and blowing. But something’s different. This time he’s dealing with a would-be victim who is prepared, on guard, and equipped for just such a danger. Try as he will, the wolf can only bully, bluster, and do his best to intimidate. The pig, on the other hand, is safely behind solid defenses, and never becomes the wolf’s victim.

OK, so why this review of an old folk tale? It’s simple, really. You see, as with all good fairy tales I think there’s a lesson – a moral in the story – to be learned and applied.

In the culture and society where I live (USA South), a significant percentage of believers appear to live their day-to-day spiritual lives in the careless, lackadaisical style of little pigs #1 and #2. Their actions and choices seem to reflect a driving desire to live only for the moment as they impulsively chase after whatever the culture’s latest “shiny trend,” or current “fad-du-jour” may be.

That being said, they still want some kind of shelter for their souls. But not wanting the bother and discipline required to build a substantial, unshakable faith, they search for something quicker and easier. As a result, many have settled for a kind of cut-rate, wobbly, spiritual shanty that’s held together with little more than the sappy stickiness of the emotional “soul candy” that gets handed out Sunday after Sunday in some churches. Certainly no place to run when times get tough!

Blinded by the dazzle of the culture’s latest “shiny trend,” or the current “fad-du-jour”– and not wanting to miss out on any aspect of it – they’ve completely lost sight of the fact that there is a savage enemy far more cunning than any fairy tale wolf that actually prowls, stalks, and hunts them.

Peter doesn’t beat around the bush. Inspired by the Spirit of God, he gives us the information right between the eyes…

“Control yourselves and be careful! The devil, your enemy,
goes around like a roaring lion looking for someone to eat.”
1 Peter 5:8 (NCV)

Let’s understand something, gang… The devil – this one that Scripture calls “your enemy” – is not looking to simply “slow you down,” “trip you up,” “discourage you,” “cause you to stumble,” or any of the other little cutsie phrases some Christians use to describe his actions. He’s not some sort of celestial naughty boy who hides in the bushes waiting to play a prank or mischievous trick on us. No, the Bible paints the clear picture of a predatory, murderous, cold-blooded enemy – like a wild, man-eating lion – with a goal of stopping short of nothing less than to kill your soul, and destroy your faith. This is why it’s so critical that the Christian Soldier intentionally builds a strong, durable faith that can withstand the enemy’s efforts to get past our defenses and destroy us.

If your local evening news broadcast alerted you to the fact that a real life, man-eating lion had somehow escaped from the zoo and was last seen prowling around in your neighborhood, tell me…what would that do to your personal “caution level?” Would you bolt your doors and lock your windows? What other security measures might you put in place to protect your family and yourself? How closely would you listen to every sound that reached your ears? And if for some unimaginable reason you had to go outside, just how watchful and alert would you be as all your senses maxed out their awareness?

So why is it that so many don’t operate on spiritual “high alert” to what the Bible says is the exact same kind of threat?

Instead of diligently guarding their hearts and staying watchful for the presence of danger, a significant number of Christians leave the access points of their lives and hearts (e.g. the eyes, the ears, the mind, etc.) wide open and unprotected. Careless about such things as the kinds of DVD’s and TV shows they watch, the sites they visit on their computers and the books and magazines they choose to read, far too many have had their spiritual lives ripped to shreds by this lion-like enemy. No huffing and puffing was needed for him to get past their defenses and savage their souls. He just figuratively knocked on the door and was welcomed in!

General Frederick Coutts sure hit the nail on the head when he observed:

“Many of us know so little of Satan’s real power because we yield so easily.

He has no need to exert himself unduly. We fall so quickly for so little.”

— General Frederick Coutts
The Call to Holiness

How about you…?

Considering your own life and spiritual experience over, let’s say, the last 3-6 months, do you think the enemy sees you as a pushover or an immoveable opponent? A fat target or a fierce fighter? How substantial is the protection around your heart? How hard is it for him to reach you? Do you stand strong or fall easily?

Let me suggest that we take the attitude William Pearson talks about:

No, we never, never, never will give in,
No we won’t! No we won’t!
No, we never, never, never will give in,
For we mean to have the victory forever.

Song 800
Salvation Army Songbook

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot...

Willis

What's Left Behind is Important

2009-07-13T16:19:00.011-04:00

One of God’s incredible blessings on my life is that I am the youngest son of Warren Howell (who turns 91 later this month!). I’ve done nothing to earn it, and had nothing to do with the selection process. It’s simply one of God’s amazing gifts of grace that has marked me and shaped aspects of my personality, my work ethic, my parenting, and my views as a Salvationist.

If I had the time, I’d tell you about Warren Howell the Corps Sergeant-Major of nearly every corps we attended, or Warren Howell the Songster Leader, or Warren Howell the de facto corps officer of a small military base in Morocco, Africa, and the many other times where he saw a ministry-related need and filled it. That’s just the way he always was.

The way he is now, however, is something altogether different. In many ways he’s even someone altogether different. Alzheimer’s disease does that to people. Slowly, irreversibly, the quietly strong, spiritually passionate man I’ve known as my dad continues to fade away like an old photograph. The fragile, older man I see in his place bears a striking resemblance to him, but it’s only a faint representation. Many of the best details of his personality have already disappeared,

But throughout his life – one day at a time – my dad has built and handed me a rich legacy. It’s a blessing I deeply treasure, and take great joy in sharing with others. What’s more is that I carefully guard and protect it. You see, I wouldn’t want any careless action on my part to cast a shadow on the heritage he has passed to me.

As Salvationists, just how careful are we with the doctrine of and belief in heart holiness which has been handed to us by our Army forbears? Far beyond the lives of the Booths, Railton, Brengle, and other well-known personalities, a vast Army of faithful soldiers – the majority of whose names have faded from our memories – have proved the possibility of living a holy life.

I wonder… Are we in danger of allowing this spiritual birthright to fade until it becomes little more than a footnote in a religious history book, or will we pray that God’s Spirit rekindle this burning zeal that inspires us to live our lives out from under the power of sin? Will we hold to our God-given spiritual heritage of holiness or will we blend into the background in an eager attempt to look like everyone else on the evangelical landscape?

In a classic passage in his book Love Slaves, Commissioner Brengle shares his concern on this very subject:

“…it is this Holiness – the doctrine, the experience, the action – that we Salvationists must maintain, otherwise we shall betray our trust; we shall lose our birthright; we shall cease to be a spiritual power in the earth; we shall have a name to live and yet be dead; our glory will depart; and we, like Samson shorn of his locks, shall become as other men; the souls with whom we are entrusted will grope in darkness or go elsewhere for soul-nourishment and guidance and while we may still have titles and ranks, which will have become vainglorious, to bestow upon our children, we shall have no heritage to bequeath them of martyr-like sacrifice, or spiritual power, or dare-devil faith, of pure, deep joy, of burning love, of holy triumph.”

– Commissioner Samuel Logan Brengle
Love Slaves

I think his words have proven to be rather prophetic, don’t you?

Tell me...What kind of an Army are you leaving to those behind us?

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…!

Willis

An "Over the Line" Life

2009-07-06T19:27:00.020-04:00

Colonel William Barrett Travis knew the situation was hopeless.

He was in command of a rag-tag group of rebels holed up in San Antonio, Texas, in an old Spanish mission called the Alamo, surrounded by thousands of Mexican troops under the leadership of General Santa Anna. Travis offered a final opportunity to the men gathered with him inside the walls. According to legend, Travis drew his sword and scratched a line in the sand. He then challenged all those who were willing to stand and die for what they believed to cross the line.

The choice Travis put to his men couldn’t have been clearer. It was a classic “black-and-white” decision:

CHOICE A – Stay, fight, and accept the consequence for their actions and convictions.
CHOICE B – Give in and surrender to the force that surrounded them.

Choose this or that — period. No third option, no “middle ground.”

The stakes were ultimately high. One side of the line meant life and general comfort. The other side represented sacrifice, pain, and probably death -- a fact that was certainly in sharp focus.

While the “line in the sand” story may or may not be true, we do know that a life-or-death choice was, in fact, made by each man in the Alamo. History records that in the early hours of Sunday, March 6, 1836, Santa Anna’s forces breached the walls and eventually killed every Alamo defender. But their courageous stand inspired an army and their sacrifice fanned a flame of passion that led to the establishing of the Republic of Texas.

It’s not too much of a stretch to draw the parallel that as Christians – and especially as soldiers of The Salvation Army – we too are surrounded by an enemy force that would like to eliminate us. And like the Alamo’s soldiers, we have to choose to either make an uncompromising – often uncomfortable – stand for our convictions and our mission, or give in to the pressures of culture, peers, and critics all around us. Clear cut choices of right and wrong, good or bad, courage or cowardice, participant or by-stander, are put in front of us on a daily basis inviting us to choose a side and act accordingly. And the choices we make will either inspire others to similar acts of faith and courage or give them reason to question our beliefs and write-off our witness.

Generally speaking, today’s society doesn’t like well-defined lines — let alone people whose actions are determined by their beliefs and convictions. In fact, there are many who work very hard to blur and distort much of what is clear. Today’s culture tells us that there are few, if any, moral absolutes, truth should be left up to the individual and his/her circumstances, and that open-minded acceptance of everyone’s point of view is the preferred attitude of the day. Consequently far too many of God’s soldiers have become uncomfortable with openly declaring a firm position or opposing view about most of what goes on within their circle of influence. Rather than crossing the line, taking a stand, and making a difference, they sit back and blend in with the crowd, allowing people to sink deeper in sin and continue their slide toward Hell.

Friends, this kind of compromise and fence-straddling is simply not an option for the Salvationist!

Tell me… When was the last time you reviewed the terms and conditions you agreed to live by when you were sworn in and enrolled as “a true soldier of The Salvation Army”? The day you signed your Soldier’s Covenant, you made a choice and stepped over a line to make a clear declaration as to where you stood, what you believed, and how you would behave as a result of those beliefs (Check out the 10 “I will…” statements in the “Therefore” section of your Covenant.).

I wonder… Do you still feel that way? Does your life agree with your Covenant? Do your choices inspire and encourage the soldiers around you, spurring them forward to action?

I’m convinced that as Salvationists, we are called to be activists for Christ not passive spectators. This line is clear. The question is which side of it are you on?

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…!

Willis

Too Big Even For God?

2009-06-26T21:15:00.025-04:00

If someone were to stop you on the street and ask you just how powerful you suppose God really is, how would you answer?

It’s hard to wrap your mind around such an infinite concept, isn’t it? I mean, how do you even begin to try to calculate – let alone describe and define – that which is unlimited? How do you take what is completely without boundaries and confine to the limitations of language, words, and human comprehension? No matter how far you take it, or how deeply you’re able to imagine it, or how well you describe it, God’s power and ability would still be endlessly beyond our greatest measurement or explanation, right?

Still, you’ve been challenged. You want to give the best answer you can. You might point to the vastness of space and the cosmos, or describe the intricate detail and balance of the microscopic world as proof of His power and ability. You could try to describe the might of the most powerful force in the known universe, a black hole (so powerful that not even light can escape from it), and explain that God’s power is immeasurably beyond even that.

Could be that you’d even use some Scripture to support your answer. Maybe you’d start with Jeremiah’s declaration…

“O Sovereign LORD! You have made the heavens and earth
by your great power. Nothing is too hard for you!”
Jeremiah 32:17 (NLT)

Perhaps you’d want to add the testimony of an archangel…

“…nothing is impossible with God."
Luke 1:37 (NIV)

You might even use Jesus’ own words…

"What is impossible with men is possible with God."
Luke 18:27 (NIV)

Or you could even choose to let God simply speak for Himself…

“I am the LORD God. I rule the world, and I can do anything!”
Jeremiah 32:27 (CEV)

Regardless of how you approached the challenge, I would imagine that the bottom line idea you would want to get across to your questioner is that there is nothing God cannot do. No limits. No boundaries. No constraints. Nothing is outside of His ability. Nothing is beyond His power.

So if that’s the way we see God, why is it that when it comes to the possibility of a Christian living a holy life – having a truly purified heart – many believers dismiss the idea as impossible? We’ll shout loud and proud from the rooftops that our God has the power to do everything ranging from the creation of galaxies and solar systems to raising Jesus from the dead. But somehow this same God is completely stumped when it comes to knowing how – or having the ability – to make the human heart holy in this present life…. That’s an order too tall even for Him.

If this were really the case, why would God frustrate and tease His people by requiring something of them that He could never provide and they, in turn, could never achieve?

Let’s let Oswald Chambers weigh in on this matter:

"If Jesus ever commanded us to do something that He was unable to equip us to accomplish, He would be a liar. And if we make our own inability a stumbling block or an excuse not to be obedient, it means that we are telling God that there is something which He has not yet taken into account."
Oswald Chambers
My Utmost for His Highest

If Chambers is right, then tell me….

…what is the “something” in your life “…which He has not yet taken into account” ?

"I am the LORD God. I rule the world, and I can do anything!”
Jeremiah 32:27 (CEV)

…what obstacle do you see that He somehow doesn’t?

“I am the LORD God. I rule the world, and I can do anything!”
Jeremiah 32:27 (CEV)

…what conditions do you face that, in your opinion, puts heart holiness completely out of reach?

“I am the LORD God. I rule the world, and I can do anything!”
Jeremiah 32:27 (CEV)

The majority of those I’ve spoken to who question the possibility of holiness, generally look at the matter from a purely human standpoint:

"There’s just no way I can be free from sin."
"I’m bound to sin in some way each day. "
"I could never overcome this-or-that temptation. "

It seems to me that this viewpoint is alot like looking through the wrong end of the telescope – everything seems impossibly far away.

Turn the whole proposition around, and suddenly it all looks different! You see, it’s not what we can or can’t do; it’s what the infinitely powerful God of the universe can do in us and for us. That’s how we get the pure heart that God expects and we dream of!

All He waits for is your invitation. You see, the Holy Spirit doesn’t come barging in to a heart uninvited. He waits to be asked in. A clean heart is only a prayer away from you.

So here’s a thought… Why not spend a little knee-time with Him about this and give holiness a try today?

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…!

Willis

Rescue The Perishing!

2009-06-16T15:19:00.043-04:00

I’m a native New Englander. A “Connecticut Yankee,” as some would put it.

Born into a family of New Englanders (Mom from Malden, Massachusetts; Dad from Portland, Maine), I grew up being very familiar with the heritage and tradition of New England sea stories.

One of these stories has always reminded me of this section of the classic lithograph found in the front of William Booth’s In Darkest England and The Way Out.

Here in this portion of the picture (which actually is an artistic rendering of a vision Booth had and described in an article he entitled Who Cares? in the June 20, 1885 War Cry) you see the heroic efforts of Salvationists gathered around the edges of a turbulent sea, doing everything within their power to rescue the multitudes of those who are drowning in an ocean of evils, vices, and sins. If the image had a bit better resolution, you might make out the fact that there are even a couple of boatloads of Salvationists who have put their own lives at risk by going out into the heavy seas to rescue those who are beyond the reach of the shore-based efforts (one boat even has an Army flag flying!).

Here’s the New England sea story that closely mirrors this picture:

Back in colonial days of this country, countless ships were wrecked and lives were lost off the rocky coast of Massachusetts. The sad fact was that this often happened within sight of the Nantucket shoreline. Finally, the people of Nantucket could no longer stand by and watch tragedy after tragedy happen so frequently, and so close to their reach. In 1786, they formed what was called the Massachusetts Humane Society (for rescuing people, not animals, as we think of the term today). From that point on, any time a ship hit the rocks off the Nantucket coast, the alarm quickly spread to the Humane Society members who would launch out in boats – regardless of the time of year, the weather conditions or the hour of the day – putting themselves at severe risk in the process in order to save as many lives as they could.

Over time, they adopted a motto for themselves and their mission: “You have to go out, but you don’t have to come back.” (Is that heroic, or what? -- W)

Roughly a hundred years later (1870’s), the Government professionalized life saving efforts with the implementation of the United States Life-Saving Service, which eventually became the U.S. Coast Guard. Volunteers no longer went out to rescue those who were shipwrecked. That job was turned over to the paid professionals. The self-sacrificing citizens who had once risked their own lives in order to save others no longer challenged one another with the words, “You have to go out, but you don’t have to come back.” Now, they sat back and let the “experts” handle the work.

I’ve got to tell you folks, I see this as something of a cautionary tale for us as Salvationists…

Consider our Army roots. It's easy to see the close parallel between the actions and attitudes of the early Army with those of the colonial Nantucketers, isn't it? I mean, even the most casual glance at the picture is enough to validate the comparison, right?

We all know the story of how, in Booth’s day, people’s lives were being “wrecked” on the rocks of sin, often within reach of professing Christians. We’re very familiar with the details of how finally a group of believers who cared more about those being lost and less about their own safety could no longer stand by and do nothing – they had to act! So under Booth’s leadership, they banded together as the Christian Mission and ultimately The Salvation Army. Nowhere in Army history do we read of any Salvationist announcing the exact phrase “You have to go out, but you don’t have to come back.” But that same “whatever-the-cost” attitude and passion of those words and that sentiment was certainly reflected in the early Salvationist mindset and behavior.

Fast-forward to today…

I don’t know how things are in your part of the Army world, but here in the States, more and more of the rescue work Salvationists once willingly took on themselves is being passed over to “professionals.” In far too many locations, Army work with the homeless, the needy, the hungry, and the fallen which was once seen by our soldiers as an opportunity to talk with a person about their soul has been transferred to the efforts of hired employees who may or may not be in step with our spiritual mission.

Also, like the Humane Society, we once had a reckless passion to launch out from our corps and citadels into “less refined” areas of town hoping to find and rescue those drowning in sin. For too many these days, going out after the shipwrecked has become…well…an inconvenience. It’s far easier to sit in the climate controlled comfort of our buildings and pray that God sends someone their way. Hey…isn’t that why we have professionals?

I wonder what the world might look like if our Army re-embraced a “you-have-to-go-out-but-you-don’t-have-to-come-back” attitude. I wonder what difference that kind of behavior might make in our communities. What difference would it make to the Kingdom?

Wouldn't you love to find out….?

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot...!

Willis

Still Wild at Heart?

2009-06-03T21:02:00.014-04:00

It seems to me that some of God’s creations were never really meant to be tamed.

Sure there are folks who have managed to fairly well subdue some of the natural instincts and behaviors of certain lions, and tigers, and bears (“…oh, my!”), but these animals should never be considered completely tame. We watch them with their handlers, and are tempted to believe that they’re cuddly, cute, huggable, and…well…managable. But deep inside, they are still true to their nature. They’re still wild at heart. Provoke them – get them stirred up, or angry – and just watch what happens. The “wild” that is hidden but still inside them will come roaring to the surface with terrible consequences.

Let me point out another of God’s unique creations that in my opinion was never intended for domestication: Christians (especially Salvationists!).

That’s the overall theme of The Barbarian Way (subtitled Unleash the Untamed Faith Within), a short, but very interesting book by Erwin McManus. Throughout the book, McManus uses the image of a “barbarian” – someone generally unwelcomed and out of step with polite, civilized society due to their wild, aggressive, non-conforming nature – as a metaphor for the untamed Christian. Here’s something of the flavor of his writing:

Somewhere along the way, the movement of Jesus Christ became civilized as Christianity. We created a religion using the name of Jesus Christ and convinced ourselves that God’s optimal desire for our lives was to insulate us in a spiritual bubble where we risk nothing, sacrifice nothing, lose nothing, worry about nothing…

It may seem counterintuitive, but the more civilized we become, the more detached from the pain of others we end up finding ourselves. The most civilized churches have really no practical concern for people outside their congregations. The brokenness of a lost and unbelieving world is not enough to inspire the painful changes necessary to make the church relevant to the world in which we live.
Would somebody please get this guy a uniform and a flag…?! He’s got the heart, spirit and attitude of a Salvationist! He’d fit right in with us!

Or would he…?

I don’t know how things are where you live, but more and more here in the West, a growing number of Salvationists are lining up and signing up for “civilization.” Much like the wild animals mentioned earlier, their Salvationist impulses and behaviors having been fairly well subdued by our culture, far too many Soldiers are embracing a sort of domestication. In short, they’ve become tame. Sadder still, they like it

Years ago, Colonel Lyell Rader,(O.F.), was concerned about this very thing. Addressing the issue head-on, he figuratively grabbed his readers by the lapels of their uniforms as he shook them and pointed out: Salvationists once startled the world as an assault force for Christ. Dare the Army now be content to be merely an army of occupation?

I wonder… Is the Salvationist instinct still in us? Does something still stir in us when we see the man under the bridge or the girl on the street, or have we become subdued by the applause of the more affluent in our community? Is there a passionate, holy “untamed-ness” still in our hearts just waiting to rise up and roar back against the enemy? Is there a “hallelujah!” left to be shouted, or is it possible that we no longer do such things because we’ve bought into a more carefully cultivated image recommended to us by those who would gladly be our handlers?

Salvationists who are still wild at heart, let me try to intentionally provoke you – to stir you up. Shake off the constricting frills and trimmings of religious civilization and reconnect with our mission, our passion, and our calling. Raise your banner! Draw your sword! Make all of Hell shudder as once again you throw back your heads and shout your war cry for all to hear! Hallelujah!

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot...!

Willis

Sleepless in Atlanta?

2009-05-27T18:59:00.008-04:00

How well do you sleep?

Are you one of those who have problems falling asleep? And once you are asleep, is it hard for you to stay asleep?

If you’re like most Americans, you wrestle with some aspect of sleeping. Studies and statistics say:
• Almost 74% of all Americans do not get enough sleep each night.
• Most will feel sleepy or groggy during the week.
• 51% of adults say they have problems sleeping at least a few nights each week.
• Almost one third of Americans have trouble sleeping every night.
• Half of all Americans can not get up without an alarm clock.
• Alarm clocks interrupt sleep cycle causing, lack of energy, feeling unrefreshed in the morning.
• Those with sleep problems are twice as likely to feel stressed and tired.
(Information from National Sleep Foundation, 2002 Annual Sleep Survey)

As a result, sleeping problems are estimated to be the #1 health-related problem facing Americans (CNN, May 1997). Furthermore, experts tell us that sleep deprivation costs $150 billion each year in higher stress and reduced worker productivity (National Commission on Sleep Disorders, 2003).

So what is it that causes our sleeplessness…?

The answer covers a long list of reasons which would include everything from a son or daughter returning home late from a date, to issues involving physical, emotional or psychological disorders.

Short of one of these more severe cases, however, a significant number of our sleep-deprived friends would tell us that they simply have a hard time “shutting down their mind.” They go to bed still thinking about that project they’re working on, that paper that’s due, or the problem that has them puzzled.

Me…? I have no problems dropping right off to sleep. My head hits the pillow and I’m gone. My wife, Barbara, on the other hand, is a card-carrying member of the “I-can’t-turn-off-my-mind” club. Many nights she’ll lay there trying to will herself to sleep. Doesn’t work… Wanting to be a helpful husband, there’ve been times when – led by the Spirit of God, of course – I’ve suggested to her that maybe her sleeplessness has less to do with an inability to log-off and shut down her brain, and more to do with the conviction of the Holy Spirit. I’ve tried to get her to consider the possibility that perhaps she has some hidden, unconfessed sin in her heart, or a guilty conscience that needs dealing with. I mean, since I fall asleep so quickly – secure in the knowlege that my heart is pure and my conscience is clear(!) – all I can conclude is that God is keeping her from sleep in order that she might repent of whatever dreadful personal transgression she might have willfully committed.

Surprisingly, Barbara doesn’t always appreciate my “Spirit-directed” insight! In fact, sharing these “revelations” with her usually gets me smacked, whacked, or kicked out of bed (further evidence of her guilt, if you ask me!).

In Cyril Barnes’ little book, Words of William Booth, he tells the story of a particular time the Founder had problems sleeping.

Late one night, Bramwell evidently heard his father stirring, and went to the old man’s room to see what might be the matter. He opened the door and saw the General pacing the floor, unable to sleep.

Bramwell says to his father, “General, what are you doing up at this hour? You should have been in bed long ago!”

Startled by the interruption, the old warrior stopped his pacing, looked at his son, and answered, “I am thinking about the people’s sins. What will the people do with their sins?”

Let me tell you, that story convicts me more than you’ll know. Why? Because I sleep very well.

I wonder how many of us there might be who, while deeply concerned for others’ souls, aren’t troubled to the point that it has ever disturbed our sleep or kept us awake (kinda makes me wonder just how deep our concern really is!). The thought of someone without Jesus bothers me terribly. But it has never caused me to pace the floor at night. Am I burdened about people and their sins? Most definitely, yes! Am I that burdened? Well…obviously not (wow, that hurts to write!).

While I don’t recall where I found this prayer, it seems appropriate to close this posting with these words:

May God bless you with Discomfort…
at easy answers, half –truths, and superficial relationships,
so that you may live deep within your heart

May God bless you with Anger…
at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people
so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless you with Tears…
to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war,
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough Foolishness…
to believe that you can make a difference in this world,
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done. Amen.

Here’s to God also blessing more of us with sleepless nights and a floor-pacing passion for souls!

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot...!

Willis

Hell? Yes!

2009-05-17T19:20:00.011-04:00

I’ve recently gotten this small, pocket-sized, soft covered old-Army book, published back in 1909, simply called The Doctrines of The Salvation Army. I thought it was going to be laid out like my other antique Handbook[s] of Doctrine. You know, major sections, followed by numbered sub-sections, sometimes followed by points a, b, c, etc. This book is nothing like that. In fact, I’ve never seen anything quite like it. The whole thing is laid out in “question-and-answer” format, as if a reporter were interviewing some Army doctrine expert. Here’s a sample:

You say you have a soul. What do you mean by that?
That there is within a man a spirit altogether separate from and independent of his body. A spirit which thinks, wills, knows and feels, and by which he can
distinguish good from evil.

Will this soul die with the body?
No; the soul is immortal; that is, it can never perish.
(from here the “doctrine expert” goes on to quote Ecc. 12:7, and Matt 16:26 -- W)

Very interesting!

Anyway, just the other day, I randomly flipped it open just to show a friend the book’s unique layout. I happened to open to the chapter on Hell. I didn’t get beyond the first question in the chapter.

The “interview” for the topic started off with this basic question:

Do you believe in Hell?

I expected there’d be a simple, one-word sentence as the answer – “Yes”. But I found something else. Oh, the “yes” is there alright, but the punctuation after it is a comma, not a period. “Yes,” is followed by three other words that completed the sentence and rocked my thinking at the same time. Here’s how the answer read:

Yes, all the time.

Man, that answer stopped me short! Those last three little words – “…all the time.” – hit me like an Evander Holyfield right.

Do I believe in Hell? Sure. No brainer. I know in my head, and hold to a personal belief that there is a literal Hell. But do I believe in it “…all the time”…? I’m not sure I measure up to that. I mean, if someone were to observe my life for a week or so, would they come to the conclusion that I do? Do my convictions, or more importantly my actions, give evidence that I believe in it “all the time”?

Wouldn’t you think that an “all the time” belief in Hell would show itself in a person having…I don’t know…a strong, passionate sense of urgency about it all?

In a past issue of armybarmy’s Journal of Aggressive Christianity, I read an article by Commissioner Wesley Harris entitled “Wake Up.” It spoke of this “all the time” characteristic as being one of the things that sets the early Army apart from our present Army. See for yourself (I’ve added the emphasizing):

Generally speaking, one of the differences between early day Salvationists and ourselves is that we often lack their sense of urgency. They would be amazed at the way in which we often close a meeting with a perfunctory nod towards the Mercy Seat, and a passing reference to the possibility of someone kneeling at it. Perhaps we too easily assume that there are no unconverted people in the hall. Our forebears in the faith used language that had the ring of urgency. They spoke of prayer battles and taking prisoners and saving the lost. The unsaved were in dire danger unless they became awake and aware of their spiritual condition. Early day Salvationists took the eleventh of our Articles of Faith seriously. Do we?

When I was a young officer one of my mentors was Commissioner George Jolliffe who was at one time private secretary to William Booth and even lived in his house at one stage. I asked him what was the secret of the Founder’s drive and he replied, surprisingly, ‘It was his belief in hell!’ That was what led him to challenge the cabby or the engine driver or the donor about their soul’s salvation.

He saw people starkly in danger of a lost eternity unless someone could awaken them to their need of a Saviour. There was no time to lose.

That's it...! The “all the time” spirit that the Doctrine Book spoke about!

Tell me...where and how have we lost it? More importantly, how do we get it back?

The clock’s ticking………..

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot...!

Willis

Knock, knock....

2009-05-09T15:38:00.007-04:00

We’ve all seen this classic Warner Sallman picture, Christ at Heart’s Door, right? It’s Sallman’s artistic rendering of Revelation 3:20, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in…”

Fine.

I’d guess that it’s highly likely that at some point you’ve also heard some preacher, teacher, or corps officer point out some of the features of the painting. Like how the two arches over Jesus’ head combined with the light around Him form the shape of a heart, and how by looking into the small window on the door, you can see that this “heart” is dark on the inside. From there, it’s usually pointed out how this “heart’s door” Jesus is knocking on has no handle, doorknob, or latch on the outside – it can only be opened from the inside. And it’s usually right about here that the preacher, teacher, or corps officer pushes the point of application: “Have you opened your heart and invited Jesus to come in?”

Ken Callahan is an author, consultant, and friend of the Army that I’ve gotten to work with from time to time. Say what you want about Ken, but you can’t deny the man’s passion for the Church to be in mission, on mission, and about mission.

Ken looks at this painting and proposes that there just might be another, somewhat different interpretation of the picture. He suggests that we look at it from the perspective of, well, the church and mission.

In doing this, he starts off by pointing out a couple of the usual observations – the lack of a handle to anyone on the outside, and the dark interior. But when he gets to the “Jesus-at-the-door” part, he takes us off the well-worn path of the usual understanding of the picture. He asks us to imagine Christ knocking on the handle-less door not of some weed-crowded cottage, or symbolic heart, but of the Church.

Hmmm… Now there's something to think about.

I wonder…how hard is it for certain people – or better yet, certain types of people (like those we label as “outsiders” for any one of a long list of reasons) – to find a “handle” that will open the Church to them? Oh, they can easily enter our buildings, if they ever have a reason to, but that’s not the same thing as getting into the church or the corps, is it? Think about your corps or church… Is the “handle” of unconditional welcome, acceptance, and inclusion easily found and used by those “outside” your fellowship, or is it somehow hidden behind unwritten policies and unspoken requirements? To ask it more bluntly, when it comes to those who aren’t “like us,” does your corps or church have to be opened from the inside?

In coming back to Sallman’s painting, Callahan moves into even more provocative territory...

As if it’s not already controversial enough to think of Christ somehow locked outside the Church, having to knock on a no-handled door like some encyclopedia salesman, Ken puts forward the idea that maybe Jesus isn’t knocking on the door of the Church trying to get in. No, he wonders if it’s not more a matter of Jesus knocking on the Church door inviting us to come out! Out of our sanctuaries, out of our citadels, out of our offices, out of our comfort zones, out of our debates over music styles and form, and into the world where the people are because that’s where Jesus is! He moves and walks throughout the world, still concerned over those who are lost, ready to engage them where they live, work, date, search, divorce, hurt, fight, and suffer.

Interesting view, isn’t it?

In John 17:5, Jesus prayed to His Father about His disciples, and said,

I'm not asking that you take them out of the world but that you guard them from the Evil One… In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world. John 17:15,18 (MSG)
If I’m reading this right, Jesus has always intended that our mission would be like His – to the world! To those who don’t necessarily come to us on our terms. To those who may not see things the same way we do. To those who need to be sought out and gone after.

That's hard to accomplish while sitting in a pew that’s bolted to the floor in a temperature controlled room, behind walls and doors – both the literal, physical kind of walls and doors, as well as the figurative kind.

So maybe Callahan’s analysis of Sallman’s picture has a bit of relevance for us to consider. What do you say about it? What’s your opinion?

As for me, I believe I’m going to sit down, turn on some of Chris Tomlin's worship music in the background, and just pray for all those folks on the outside of my corps.

Hang on…there’s Someone at the door…

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…!

Willis

Comparing Prices

2009-05-01T19:34:00.007-04:00

I’m sure it doesn’t provide an “aha!” revelation in your life for me to point out the fact that having a regular, intentional, relationship-deepening, power-producing prayer life comes with a time cost. Because this is a generally understood truth, many of God’s soldiers figuratively compare price tags and projected outcomes when it comes to how they choose to spend their time. Whether consciously or unconsciously, they compare what they determine to be the return on investment of a focused prayer time with the lengthy to-do list of all they need to do, want to do, and are expected to do in a day’s time.

Too often after checking these costs, personal prayer time – which let’s face it, isn’t exactly a “squeaky wheel” kind of activity that demands most folks’ attention – is put back on the rack in favor of what we consider the more urgent demands of life and time.

I wonder… Have we ever thought that not praying might actually be even more expensive, even more costly to us in ways we may not have bargained for?

Bramwell Booth’s wife, Florence Booth, while serving as the British Commissioner, warned officers about this very danger. In an address during an Officers’ Councils, she pointed out,

“What you are, to a great extent, your people will become, and you must be men and women of prayer in order to raise up a praying people. Officers who neglect private prayer must sooner or later fail. (emphasis mine – W)

“In some notes, ‘Half Hours with my Guide,’ Mrs. Brengle tells that as a young Officer, she was losing power and joy, and was asked by a comrade whether she was giving the necessary time for her own spiritual life and growth. She replied: ‘I can’t spare the time: there is so much work to do!’ (Can I get a witness?! Is there an “amen” from a reader or two? – W) The answer was: ‘Who will do your work when you have backslidden?’ From that day forward, Mrs. Brengle made time for the necessary secret communion with God.

“ ‘Who will do your work when you have backslidden?’ A wise question, wasn’t it? …Because you are so very busy, are you making the mistake of thinking that prayerless activity will suffice?” (GREAT question! How do you answer it? – W)
– Commissioner Florence Booth
Powers of Salvation Army Officers

You know, no one sets out to intentionally backslide. I’ve never met anyone who has said, “I think I’ll deliberately let my prayer life slip to the point that I’m completely powerless, and backslidden.” That’s just not a temptation the enemy puts in our path. What he does whisper in our ear, however, comes from a different angle but produces the same results. You see, he would have us buy the idea that skipping over prayer time is less costly than it really is. A missed day here, a neglected devotional time there… C’mon, it's no big deal, right? But the hidden cost of these lost meetings with God adds up like interest on an overdue credit card bill. Before we know it, we’re in a hole far deeper than we ever intended, wondering how we got there. Here’s a principle: Sin always costs more than the price tag advertises.

So next time you think that you can’t afford the time to meet with God, compare the prices.

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…!

Willis

Nails and Prayer

2009-04-26T20:34:00.007-04:00

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a nail.

This little rhyme which some have dated back as early as the 14th century, was often used to teach children that actions have consequences, and that carelessness has the power to produce unwanted results. To put it another way, little things matter – often in big ways.

In the Army much of our terminology refers to “the war.” We sing about it in our battle songs, talk about it in our testimonies, and include references to it in many of our covenants and ceremonies. But I wonder…do we really take this war seriously, or do we tend to see it as “Army-speak,” or symbolic saber-rattling and fist-shaking in the enemy’s direction (nothing for him to really get worked up over)?

If we do take it seriously (and I think scriptures like 2 Cor 10:3-5 / Eph 6:10-17 / 1 Thess 5:8, and others, make a pretty strong case that we should), then I’m having a problem coming to grips with the lack of attention of so many to the importance of spiritual battle at the “nail” level.

What am I talking about? What is the “nail” in this spiritual battle? I think it has to be the issue of personal prayer and soul care.

In every case that I can think of, when one of our fellow warriors falls to immorality, playing with finances, lying, no power in the pulpit, loss of passion, loss of mission focus, not being moved by human suffering, lack of soul fire, and a long list of other battles, you can backtrack the events and steps that have led to the defeat to this most basic of “nail” issues:

● In speaking with an officer couple about to divorce: Tell me about your prayer life… They had stopped long ago.

● Talking with the soldier caught up with internet porn: How have you been caring for your soul? His head hung down in shame.

● The officer who had lost the “wow and wonder” of his calling: Describe your devotional life to me… No answer, just a look that said it all.

● Speaking with a cadet who wonders why they’re not as passionate as others around them: Are you having your quiet time? A long, drawn out explanation came back about how their schedule is too busy to be regular in prayer, so it’s pretty much hit-or-miss.

If looked at from the spiritual perspective, we might modify the opening lines to something like this:

For the want of fervent prayer, the contact with Christ was lost.
For the want of contact with Christ, the passion was lost.
For the want of passion, the power was lost.
For the want of power, the victory was lost.
For the want of victory, the soul was lost.
All for the want of prayer.

This little, seemingly insignificant neglect is nothing less than HUGE! Why? Because it unlocks the door that can lead to the larger defeat.

To the soldier who would be a real spiritual warrior, the person who would win victory after victory for the Lord, the person who would be feared by all of hell, this is the first and most important battle to fight and win! Let’s hit our knees and fight like we mean it! The result of so many other fights that we become involved in is often determined long before by what does or doesn’t happen in the prayer closet.

So tell me…how’re things with your soul?

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot...!

Willis

Running Up the Down Escalator

2009-04-14T19:14:00.003-04:00

It’s one of the many silly things my friends and I did as kids. We’d go into a department store and take turns running up the down escalator.

I suspect that most of you probably did the same thing at some point in your life, right? That being the case, you understand that it takes twice as much effort and “oomph” to make any progress because you have to contend with the never-ending, mechanized, downward momentum of the stairs. You have to keep going. You have to run and run hard if you ever expect to gain ground. And you don’t dare stop or pause, because the stairs never stop. Stopping – even just to catch your breath – means you’re going to lose ground. If you’re going to successfully run to the top of the down escalator, you have to keep moving forward at a pace that surpasses the flow of the stairs always coming at you from the opposite direction.

There are times when I think there are some parallels to this situation when it comes to understanding and fully embracing our heritage of teaching biblical holiness. At times I think we’re gaining ground only to discover that it’s been more like climbing a sand dune where you take three steps just to slide back two.

Recently, I was visiting one of the corps in our Territory just to observe a group of cadets as they carried out their Sunday assignments. Their responsibilities included teaching the various Sunday School classes the corps conducted. Fine. So wanting to be the proverbial “fly on the wall,” I went from class to class, spending a few moments in each of them in order to get an overall sense of how each cadet was doing.

The last class I poked my head into was the Adult class, which wasn’t being taught by a cadet, but by the corps officer himself. The folks in the class were having a lively discussion with their captain about the topic of “sin.” From the level of involvement from those in the class, it was overwhelmingly evident that there was significant interest in the subject and how it applied to them. As he was addressing their statements and questions, the C.O. said, “…of course we know that we all sin, every day…” Now understand that this “insight” was tossed out in a manner that seemed to imply “no one would ever argue the point I’m about to share…”

(*Insert a deep sighing sound here…*) Would someone please tell me why there is this dogged insistence in the belief that even as Christians sin will always be something “out of our control,” or that we have no say in the matter? Just where is it written that we’ll always be “…slaves to sin?” Are you really asking me to go along with the idea that we have to sin? If so, then explain to me just where Christ’s sacrifice fell short or was somehow inadequate to address our condition.
[NOTE: Remember the story of the Methodist missionary asking the crowd at a Camp Meeting, “What sin do you have to commit today?" (see the posting entitled “got holiness?”) Man, I love that question!]

Maybe it’s time we blow the dust off our Wesleyan understanding of what sin is and isn’t.

It isn’t…
...an unintentional mistake.
...temptation.
...a temporary lapse of judgment.

It is... (in the words of John Wesley)
..."voluntary transgression of a known law of God"

So let’s be clear… Sin isn’t an “oops.” It’s not some kind of covered over hole you unknowingly fall into and wonder “man, how’d I get here?!”

Let me say this as plainly as I know how… As Salvationists – and thereby, Wesleyans – we believe the Bible teaches that sin is always a specific, deliberate, fully aware, conscious, intentional act of rebellion to what we know God asks or expects of us. It involves both our head and heart. In our minds, we purposefully choose to disregard what we know we should/shouldn’t do, while in our hearts, we muffle the prompting and/or warning of the Holy Spirit (you know the feeling I’m talking about, right? That unmistakable, gentle prodding or pricking of our hearts…) That being the case, there is no time when the sanctified believer has his arm twisted behind his back, figuratively speaking, and is forced to sin against his will. The truth of the matter is that we intentionally blow past every exit, and pay no attention to every possible escape in order to willingly embrace whatever the sin might be.

But, hallelujah! it doesn’t have to be that way!!

Now does the possibility to sin stay with us after sanctification? Yes. But there’s no requirement that we sin! You can check out your Bible from the index to the maps… It isn’t in there!

If you do want to talk “requirements,” however, let’s talk about the repeated requirement laid out in Scripture to not sin!

John 5:14 (NIV)
…Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you."

John 8:11 (MSG)
[Jesus said] "Go on your way. From now on, don't sin."

Romans 6:1-2 (TLB)
Well then, shall we keep on sinning so that God can keep on showing us more and more kindness and forgiveness? Of course not! Should we keep on sinning when we don't have to? For sin's power over us was broken when we became Christians and were baptized to become a part of Jesus Christ; through his death the power of your sinful nature was shattered.

1 Corinthians 15:34 (NLT)
Come to your senses and stop sinning.

1 John 2:1 (NIV)
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.

Can it possibly be any plainer…?

Listen… Our God’s not a god who frustrates or teases us by putting the cookie jar out of our reach. He doesn’t expect what can’t be accomplished, nor does He command what can’t be completed. He hasn’t merely directed us to “stop sinning,” He’s made it completely possible for us to do exactly that – stop sinning.

So let’s settle this business once and for all, and let go of the devil’s lie that we are – and will always be – bound to sin. The Bible teaches otherwise, God requires otherwise, and through His Son’s sacrifice and the gift of His Spirit, our Father has made it possible for us to have all the power we need to say “no” to sin.

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot...!

Willis

VOICES: Commissioner Israel Gaither

2009-03-16T17:28:00.009-04:00

With this posting, I’m starting what’ll be an occasional series that I’m simply calling “Voices.” Randomly sprinkled in between other postings on this site, Voices will consist of a quote or excerpt that I’ve collected over the years for a wide range of reasons. Some I’ve found to be insightful, while others are convicting. Sometimes they’re stirring, or disturbing: insightful or encouraging…whatever. Who knows – maybe you’ll find them equally moving to you.

For me, a good quote has power. Now sometimes this power comes as a result of their communicator carefully crafting his/her words, cherry-picking just the right ones and honing them to a fine point. Other times, a quote’s power doesn’t come from this kind of intentional “word-smithing,” but rather from the passion of the moment or circumstance. The context gives it power. There are also some outstanding quotes that come as plain-spoken, down-home, common sense or country wisdom. In any case, I find that a good quote has an impact that’s hard to ignore.

While I will probably offer some sort of setup to the quote/excerpt – that context thing I mentioned above – it’s my intention to let them stand completely on their own; they say what they say. Me adding my two-cents’ worth would only take away from the force of their message. But you, on the other hand, are more than welcomed to weigh-in with your own insight and comment. I’d love to hear your take on the quote.

Let’s start with a short one from Commissioner Israel Gaither – one of our most outstanding communicators – from a talk he gave last summer (2008) at the Old Orchard Beach Camp Meeting, up in Maine.

Speaking to a packed house of Salvationists, the Commissioner said,

“We can no longer risk spiritually dead corps. We can’t have dead social centers. We can’t have dead headquarters. We can’t have dead Salvationists anywhere.”

Wow…! Lined up right in the crosshairs with nowhere to turn!

What do you say to that?!

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…!

Willis

...so how do you feel 'bout death?

2009-03-07T19:14:00.022-05:00

Let's talk about death for a moment (how's that for a catchy way to grab your attention and start this post?). The fact that most folks are not terribly eager to die isn't exactly new information, right? The "fight or flight" instinct for self-preservation that comes as standard equipment inside all of us causes people to do whatever is necessary -- or possible -- to protect our lives. While there are very sad exceptions, most folks generally steer clear of situations that will put their lives at serious risk. And in those rare circumstances when people do come face-to-face with the liklihood of what they would consider a pre-mature death -- say an encounter with an armed robber, or a mugger with a knife, or some other weapon -- it's very common for the person to plead, bargain, or beg for their lives to be spared.

This is another one of those cases where we find a parallel between our physical lives and our spiritual lives.

What am I talking about...? I'm talking about what happens in the inner man when our sin nature sees the very real prospect of it's death.

Let me try to set this up... But to do that, I have to step back to my March 6 posting (below), where I offered this thought:

Once God has shown you those things you've always thought of as just some innocent little habit (c'mon...no big deal, right?) or what you might label an occasionally inconvenient behavior that you've simply learned to live with (I've always been that way...), you've got to kill it! Not cage it, chain it up, tie it down, or lock it away. You've got to drag it kicking and screaming to the altar and kill it dead!
From there I tossed out a couple of verses that drive this point home far better than I could hope to on my own. They're definitely worth repeating:

Romans 8:13
For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die;
but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body,
you will live...

Colossians 3:5
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature...

And here's another one for good measure...

Galatians 5:24
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature
with its passions and desires.

Now here's the point...

Our inner sin nature -- the very thing the Bible clearly tells us to "crucify," and "put to death" -- is like a person who learns they're about to be executed. It tries anything and everything to escape the death sentence. When its faced with any threat to its life or well-being, the sin nature inside us will scream, and fight; it'll try to wiggle out of it, or dodge the bullet; it'll beg, bargain, plead, promise to behave, anything....! If only we'll let it live!

Adjutant Kate Lee -- the "Angel Adjutant" -- went head-to-head with this very thing in her own quest for a holy life. In the January 1917 issue of The Officer, she testified how this exact life and death struggle went on in her soul in an article simply titled, My Personal Experience of Full Salvation.

Here's how she described what we've been talking about (the emphasized sections are mine):

“…God in His love and pity came to my heart; gave me a revelation. He not only showed me myself and my sin, but showed me my need. I needed something, and as I sat in a holiness meeting I realized that need was sanctification. For months the word sanctification was to me a heavy burden; a torture. I could not really grasp its meaning. I read and re-read the theory of sanctification, going from one authority on the subject to another, only to turn away still more puzzled. I then set myself to seek publicly and was several times found at the holiness table, pleading for the blessing that I failed to understand. Again and again I came to the altar, and, as far as I understood, laid my all there. But as soon as the test came, without realizing that I did it, I took from off the altar the sin I had laid there, or the gifts that I had surrendered to God.

“This is where I failed many times, and during my officership. I have found scores of other souls who have failed on this very point. They come sincerely to the altar, definitely laying their gift there, a living sacrifice; but when the knife is felt, the realization of the dying comes upon them as they feel the hurt and understand fully what it means, they shrink and draw back. Abram's experience, related in Genesis 15, has been a great help to me. He had to wait for the fire. He prayed all day, even until eventide, and then the birds of prey came down; but he stood by the sacrifice and drove them off. Then the fire came and consumed the sacrifice.

“That was just the point to which I had to get. I had laid my all on the altar, but then I had to wait for the fire. Meanwhile, the birds of doubt, fear, and discouragement came flying around. I had to get up again and again to drive them off, and hold on to God.

“Fresh light came; a new path opened up. The laying of self on the altar meant following God fully and showing my colours everywhere. Could I do it? It was hard to die to self, and say, 'Yes, Lord.' But as I said it, I felt I was accepted, and afterwards, when I carried out that vow, joy flooded my soul and I realized that the Spirit of the Lord was upon me. The desire to sin was removed, and my heart yearned to be kept pure and clean."

Can you relate to her struggle? Have you ever laid your sin nature on the altar -- a place of death, I might add -- only to snatch it back as you felt the edge of the Holy Spirit's knife?

Listen to me... Either your hunger for holiness will bring you to the point of sacrificing the sin that shackles your soul and holds you back from spiritual power and genuine Christlikeness, or the sin nature will so convince you that it is untouchable and unconquerable that your desire to life in holiness will shrivel and die. Bottom line...? One way or another, something's going to die.

What'll it be for you, I wonder?

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot...!

Willis

"Holiness: Missed It By THAT Much"

2009-03-06T18:35:00.029-05:00

As a kid, I enjoyed watching the old 1960's sitcom, Get Smart. You know, the one with the bumbling secret agent, Maxwell Smart (a.k.a Agent 86, for all you CONTROL agents out there), who would somehow always win out over the bad guys -- usually the agents from the villainous CHAOS organization, who were always bent on taking over the world. Thanks for keeping us free, Max!

But in his wacky, slapstick fashion -- as could only have been written by Mel Brooks -- he would inevitably screw up, or make a mess of things, only to look at the camera and say, "Missed it by THAT much!"

When it comes to holiness, I wonder how many folks miss out on the blessing because they're looking for the wrong thing. Rather than focusing on "What do I have to deal with in the depths of my own heart, soul, and nature?" they're looking for a formula (do these 5 things, then turn around 3 times and click your heels while saying, "there's no place like home, there's no place like home...") which will somehow deliver an experience -- a tingly, metaphysical, hocus-pocus, light-from-heaven-shining-down-while-angel-voices-sing kind of thing. Like Max, people looking for that sort Holy Ghost emotional thrill ride have "...missed it by THAT much."

You see, too many are hoping for God to sanctify them -- to make their hearts clean -- without any interest or willingness in surrender on their part. Wanting a kind of a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too relationship with the sin that's still in their heart, they'd opt to perform their way into the blessing, if they could. They'd be willing to give more, or do more, or fulfill some pre-arranged list of requirements rather than have to come to grips with self-related issues of the heart.

That pesky little point is where people often times wind up missing out on what God would bless them with.

How about you...? Have you ever let go of what you might consider to be "acceptable sins?" You know, those annoying little slips of the tongue that you wind up apologizing for, the flare of temper that you try to keep in check, the presence of pride that shows up at awkward times, the selfishness you really hope you've kept hidden, the way you rationalize what you watch or look at... I think you get the idea and can come up with your own list, right?

If by some chance you have a problem putting your finger on any "harmless" little ol' sin area that you might have kept around and cuddled up to, here's a tip -- ask God to show you what He sees; to show you any areas that still need addressing and cleaning.

Now here's where the price tag gets too high for some: Once God has shown you those things you've always thought of as just some innocent little habit (c'mon...no big deal, right?) or what you might label an occasionally inconvenient behavior that you've simply learned to live with (I've always been that way...), you've got to kill it! Not cage it, chain it up, tie it down, or lock it away. You've got to drag it kicking and screaming to the altar and kill it dead!

"Gee, Howell, a little extreme, don't you think?"

Yeah, I guess it is. But God's the One saying that's what it takes. Check it out for yourself:

Rom 8:13

For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die;

but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body,

you will live...

Col 3:5

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature...

So to any of you really interested in holiness (which the Bible describes pretty clearly as a must-have requirement for anyone who would "...see the Lord."), know that it comes with a price -- death to some habits, lifestyles, desires, and behaviors that you've probably become cozy with. But trust me on this...the life of holiness God gives you in return for the death of those old leeches that sucked spiritual life and vitality out of you will more than make up for anything you think you've lost.

So whaddya say...? You up for it?

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot...!

Willis

Wisdom from Otis

2009-03-05T18:06:00.006-05:00

Major Otis Street was one of those officers who left his mark on every life he touched. Though he's in heaven now, while he was here among us he ignited a passion for the possible in countless people. I think he saw what people might be -- the potential within. His enthusiasm was infectious, and his joyful spirit contagious. He loved the Lord, and loved serving Him through the Army equally as much.

It was during his funeral a few years ago that I picked up this little phrase of his -- this "Otis-ism:"

"Get up, put your uniform on, and go do something!"

Let me tell you, that's good counsel from a classic warrior-saint of God, whose life, mission, and incredible results reflected that simple, uncomplicated statement.

I'm simple enough to believe it'll still make a difference in this day and age.

Are you up to the challenge? Why not try and see!

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot...!

Willis

Looks Pretty (but doesn't last)

2009-03-02T17:08:00.007-05:00

See... We do get snow occasionally in Atlanta! And it sure looks nice here at the EBC.

got holiness?

2009-03-02T08:01:00.017-05:00

For the last week, I've been mulling over some of the pages and pages of notes I took at our recent Holiness Conference here at the Evangeline Booth College. With Dr. Bill Ury, of the Wesley Biblical Seminary as our guest, we all had an incredible time of study, and deeper exploration of the doctrine anad life of holiness!

It's probably no surprise to you that the subject of holiness isn't a terribly popular one in most church circles. It's just not "jazzy" enough. Not one of the "trends du jour" in church-world. Oh, we'll wrestle and wrangle over shadow issues like music styles, standing vs. sitting for Scripture reading, and the merits or shortcomings of terms such as "seeker-sensitive." But when it comes to foundational, substance issues such as holiness of heart -- what can we or can't we expect the Spirit of God to do in our hearts -- well, we find all kinds of reasons to push it aside in favor of more popular matters.

As he spoke to us, Bill Ury observed:

"We like to complicate holiness, because if something is complicated, we can't really be expected to be held to it."

Man, doesn't that ring with truth?

For some reason, we've got holiness as complicated as rocket science! But check out how Commissioner Brengle lays it out as simply as possible:

“We do not say that it is not possible to sin, but we do say that it is possible not to sin.”

That's the point! Through the power of the Holy Spirit it is actually possible for the Christian to not sin and to live a holy life!

During one of his teachings, Bill Ury told about a Camp Meeting he had been preaching at and doing his best to get across the idea of holiness. After he had given it all he had, he told how a simple missionary lady from Mexico came to the stage to give her testimony. Part of her testimony included this question (I thought this was great...!). In her quiet, understated way, she asked the crowd, "What sin do you have to commit today?"

Exactly!!

And not only have we complicated the simple truth of holiness, we've also given it some bad press. In the minds of most, "holiness" conjures up images of some pretty severe-looking folks (like Charles Finney, pictured here). Joyless, somber faces, women's hair in a tight bun, and rigid lists of do's-and-don'ts. Holy cow...! With such a negative image, it's no wonder that holiness is misunderstood and neglected in the church.

Sadly, the problem's not just with other churches. Holiness isn't doing a whole lot better in Army circles.

General Clifton lines up this sad fact in his crosshairs in the first chapter of his book, New Love. He writes:

"The greatest threat of all today for Salvationism is a perceptable neglect of holiness teaching (the emphasis is Clifton's). Left unchecked, this has the potential to undermine Salvationism right at its very heart. We are less surefooted about it tan once we were. William Booth used to say there are few subjects of which we more frequently speak, or in which we more truly glory than that of holiness of heart and life. Is this still so? No, it is not... The blessing of a clean heart is no longer spoken about or witnessed to. Many (most?) Salvationists today would simply not know what we mean by the phrase, 'the blessing of a clean heart.'"

So how about you...? Do you know what the phrase means? Better still, do you know the experience of a clean heart -- a holy life? You can, you know... Just talk to God about it, and listen to what He has to say in His Word, and to your heart. He's the One who made it all possible.

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot...!

Willis

Pull With Everything You've Got

2009-02-15T20:18:00.006-05:00

Have you ever played Tug o’ War?

You know how it works… Two teams of people line up on either side of a good, thick rope – each with their biggest guy at he end as the “anchor” –pulling for all they’re worth in opposite directions. The object? To pull those at the other end of the rope to your side of the divide.

Funny thing about a tug o’ war… Your team doesn’t usually win if all your team mates don’t pull in the same direction. In fact, I think the case can be made that if you’re not pulling with everything you’ve got in the same direction as the rest of your team, that’s the extent to which you’re helping the other team. You don’t have to actually switch sides and pull for the other guys. Simply pulling less than your best or in a different direction is an indirect way to help those pulling the opposite way.

I think there’s an easy parallel one could make in applying this same principle to all the activities, programs and ministries that take place as part of the overall Army menu of services.

Mark Waltz serves on the Pastoral Staff of one of the more innovative churches in this country, Granger Community Church, in Granger, Indiana. In his book entitled First Impressions, he offers an insight not to be missed, when he says:

“A common mission unifies a congregation’s focus and energizes ministry. People who do not gather around a shared mission will pursue multiple goals and directions. Distractions will abound. The absence of a common mission will generally result in disparate outcomes. When your mission is clear, each ministry within your church must align with it.” (emphasis added)

I think he’s dead on…

Ask a dozen Salvationists what our mission is; ask about the unique purpose of the Army; ask why we do what we do; ask about our desired outcome as a result of a given activity. The answers that come back will most likely cover the ground from the militant to the milquetoast and everything in between.

My point…? I’m not sure just how “shared” our mission is among our own ranks. I’m not convinced that we’re all pulling in the same direction toward the same objective.

One of my favorite Booth quotes speaks to this very issue. He makes abundantly clear just what the “supreme purpose” is behind all that the Army involves itself with. Here’s what he had to say:

“We want souls to the end. This same principle applies not only to the regular Salvation work, but to everything we touch. Take our free meals and summer outings for children, or the help rendered to the naval and military men. What is it we are after? What, I ask, is the ultimate end behind your Christmas baskets of turkey and crackers, or your Penny Ice and Summer Camps in the States and Canada; behind your industrial schools and Criminal Settlements in India; your Day Schools in Newfoundland; your Creches and Slum Posts in Scandinavia, your Shelters, Workshops, Hospitals and Nursing Homes the world over? Must it not be the salvation of the souls of the people – not as something to be dragged in at the tail end if a fairly convenient opportunity should present itself – but the ONE SUPREME PURPOSE?

I say we have no right to spend one hour of our time, or one ounce of our energies, or one penny of our money on any of these things except behind them all and governing them all is the one leading purpose; unless infusing and giving its character and quality to them all is the one spirit, the one object and aim – the capture of individuals for God!

All these efforts and special branches can only be rightly regarded as ultimately so many means of reaching those whom otherwise we could not reach – so many weapons for breaking down their opposition to God, delivering them from the power of the Devil, and enlisting them into His service.

Anything less than that is a betrayal of our trust. What better will a man be in hell because we merely filled his stomach when he was hungry or clothed him when he was naked? What profit will it be that we educate and train the children in our Industrial and Boarding Schools, unless we get them converted by the grace of God?”
William Booth

Man, I like that! Nothing vague or unclear. No chance of misunderstanding his point or position. Everything we involve ourselves in, or set our hand to, should, in some way, shape, or form, give us the opportunity to engage people in a discussion about their souls. Satisfying temporal, physical needs is a means to a credibility which is intended to open an opportunity for us to lovingly probe into more eternal concerns. Booth is saying that all of our activities, programs, and services are intended to “pull” in that direction.

So how is it at the section of the rope where God has placed you? Through your actions and efforts, are you pulling people toward Jesus? Let's commit to pull together, and give it all we've got!

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot!

Willis

A Very Significant Date

2009-02-11T11:47:00.008-05:00

This is a special day for me.

I've decided to hold my breath, close my eyes, and jump into what for me is the deep end of technology and actually begin blogging. And to the 2 or 3 people who might actually stumble across this site, well, thanks for reading!

As special as this simple fact is, however, it's really not what makes this day significant, let alone very significant.

You see, thirty one years ago today, the most significant, life changing event happened to me (short of my salvation and sanctification). On Saturday, February 11, 1978, Barbara Leidy -- the girl I had been dating for seven years! -- became my wife. Two people were joined at the heart. And we've only grown closer over the years.

If you were to see "then-and-now" pictures of Barbara, you would hardly notice a change. On the other hand, my "then" appearance as opposed to now.... well, let's not go there. But let's face it, over 31 years, some things are going to change, shift, adjust, and crease. That's life. But I'm celebrating the fact that the important things between us-- the things that last and matter -- have become stronger, deeper, more lovely.

It's fair to say that there has been no other person in my life who has done as much to help "fan into flame" the few gifts God has given me. In her wife-way, she pushes me, prompts, and prods me towards excellence. Where I would at times settle for "good enough," she points to the better and the best.

How do you thank God for the gift of this kind of partner in your life?

I shared with her today this excerpt from one of the countless letters Brengle wrote to his wife, Lily, during their frequent separations. It pretty well describes the role she plays in my life:

"Help me by your prayers, stir me up by your exhortations, make me watchful by your warnings, make me diligent by your example, make me wise by your counsel, be my wife, my helper, as you have been and as you will -- and God will use me to save many more souls with you than without you."
-- Samuel Logan Brengle

So thank you Lord, for special days, significant dates, and flame-fanning partners. They each, like all good gifts, come from You.

And if I'm smart -- and no one who knows me places any real wager on that bet -- I'll keep my eyes continually open to see and recognize the gifts, the wonder, and blessings God includes in every day to remind me of His love and grace.

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot...

Willis