Dear Salvation Army, 4 Habits Of Healthy Corps

I recall how aggressive and proactive our Founder William Booth was when it came to the Ministry of The Salvation Army. In early days, it was recommended that if the corps was not producing, then it should be shut down and our efforts must be applied elsewhere.

This got me thinking.
Do we consistently pour resources, time, effort into ministries that are already dead on arrival?
Are we so organizationally stubborn or reluctant to pull up the rug and move on?

This sounds callous of me, I know.
I also realize the ramifications it could have on families and individuals dependent upon our services.
BUT…with fields ripe in other places, could our habits of holiness and mission be shunted by lack of courage to close one corps and open others? OR have we become so fundamentally stuck in the mud of being an organization that we are now incapable (by and large) of shutting down broken, financially devastated, unsustainable corps? I realize this is a sensitive topic, when some people look at certain corps with historical romantic lenses on and only see “what was”…but is being sentimental – detrimental to the forward progress of need and mission?

With that in mind, and with our focus upon corps today, I would like to explore the healthy habits.
This should help us better define our corps, its success in ministry and provide us vitals to its future.
What does a healthy corps look like?
What are they doing differently?
Is MY corps healthy?

4 Habits Of Healthy Corps:

1. Prayer is at the forefront, not the background.
“Prayer is a strong wall and fortress of the church; it is a goodly Christian weapon.” -Martin Luther
Prayer is not a last resort but a first response.
If a corps longs to be healthy, its corps members and leaders have to be on their knees in prayer.
It is in this act of humility and petition that we can become sensitive to the moving of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is more than just offering a wish list to God. Prayer is also more than just asking God to heal our friends and loved ones in their times of health concerns. Prayer is the vital connection between humanity and our Divine God. It is the spark plug of fellowship between believers as well. Without prayer we lose the connection and the conversations with God. He longs to connect with us both personally and corporately.

Have we begun to decline in corps attendances and in our fervor and mission because we have forgotten how to pray? Are prayer meetings still a scheduled “thing” in our corps? I believe that there is a direct correlation between dying corps and the death of the prayer meeting.

I can recall the prayer meetings that took place before Sunday Services. It was specific, set aside time, when the local officers and the corps officers would gather, sometimes as they held hands and prayed for people, and for the Holy Spirit to fall afresh. Are we missing this in our corps’ today? Is prayer at the forefront or is it in the background?

2. A Healthy Corps Has Ministries & Programs That Are Relevant To Its Community Needs.
I understand that there are some tired, old programs that just need to be retired.
I don’t say that with any trace of cynicism or disdain, but rather, with a sense of concern. Sometimes we still believe that some of the old methods of programming we did in the 1960’s will still be relevant and applicable to today. No doubt, the message of Christ will never change but the method of delivery has to. Culturally speaking things have changed since the 1960’s. I hold nothing against that era by any means, but we can’t live there anymore. We have to progress. We have to, at times, change our methods.

There will always be some who will argue that we shouldn’t search to be relevant, but if we love people…if we wish to connect with this modern generation, many who are unchurched all together, then we have to adjust our methods and our programming.

What are the needs of people in your community?
What is it that no one else is doing or is capable of doing in your community?
Could your corps be that “all things to all people” type of ministry?
We have to adjust.
We have to modify, while we uphold the sacred integrity of the good news of Christ.
Healthy Corps are doing this.
Healthy Corps are doing more than just surviving week to week on tired old programming.
Perhaps, if you see your corps as “not quite healthy”, it could be time to take a step out of the mundane, “same ole” routine and give your ministries a shot of adrenaline.

3. A Healthy Corps Has Godly Leaders Who Are Developing Future Leaders
(Active Discipleship)
Is there a drive to develop future leaders in your corps?
It could be through Corps Cadets classes, it could be through other one on one methods…but there ought to be a push to develop the future of leadership within your corps RIGHT NOW! I don’t wish to alarm you, but many of our present corps are dying out. Many of our currently “healthy corps” are in actually one generation away from being put on life support. Where are the future local officers? Where are the future corps officers? How are we seeking to cultivate those gifts in younger generations? It’s not overly complicated. You don’t need a Phd in education to lead someone and mentor them, you just need to be available and giving of your time.

If you are a leader right now in your corps, you have the utmost responsibility to recruit your replacement and to disciple them. Don’t wait for the Corps Officer to do this, you do it. We cannot just wait for someone else to do what we are all called, as leaders to do. A healthy corps has godly leaders who are developing future leaders. Are you available?
Are you willing to begin this if you haven’t already?

4. A Healthy Corps Is Attractive And People Linger & Fellowship
Here is where the first 3 habits trickle down to this last habit.
This last habit is more of a response to what is already happening in a healthy corps.
When fellowship is GOOD, people linger in its presence.
We’ve probably seen this after Sunday services from time to time.
People just want to continue “hanging out” with each other.
The fellowship of believers ought to be sweet…but sometimes it’s just plain sour.
There are, unfortunately, sometimes corps members who have bickered with each other for years and as soon as the last “amens” are said in church they march right out the door so that they do not have to be in the same room with their “enemy” who just so happens to attend the same corps. REALLY? Again, dear soldiers, this ought not be! If we ~~want~~ desire to have a healthy corps, we have to seek reconciliation with those who are supposed to be our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

A healthy corps offers time to linger within one another’s fellowship.
It is a safe place to share with each other what is really going on in their lives.
The sweet aroma of this kind of fellowship is extremely attractive to those seeking Christ and a church to belong to.

Does your corps have a sweet aroma or a sour smell?

These are just four habits of a healthy corps…there are many more.
This is a mere primer to a larger topic of Christian living and corps health in our Army.
Is Your Corps Healthy?

Something more to ponder today.
To God be the glory!

May 14, 2015 2

Dear Salvation Army…The Church of The Hyprocrites

Let me first clarify,
I am not calling us (The Salvation Army) “The Church of the Hyprocrites”…but sometimes if the shoe fits.

What I am pondering today is whether or not we can fall into this category from time to time without even realizing it. Perhaps it manifests itself in us when a new visitor attends our corps and we immediately judge them on the merits of what they wear or how they act or don’t act. Perhaps we become the hypocrite in the way that we treat each other or how we talk about one another behind their backs. Perhaps being a hypocrite isn’t as simple as “those people” after all. Maybe, just maybe we find ourselves being a hypocrite more often then we at first realized.

Let me first talk to the hypocrite in us all (if we dare to EVER admit that we struggle with this…I should say I am first talking to the hypocrite in ME before I talk to you)…

DEAR HYPOCRITE:
You are destroying the fellowship of believers.
Your words and practices are not always in step with each other.
You say one thing and expect others to follow those commands, while at the same time you are not living up to those expectations either. Stop living this lie! Other DO see you! You are visible to other believers and would be believers. If you want to see this church plateau in its growth, in its fruit of the spirit, in its spiritual nourishment, just keep doing what you’re doing, because soon enough you will see its demise. If you can’t practice what you preach then how can you expect others to do it? If you don’t care about anyone other than how they appear and how they measure up, then you don’t really care at all. Stop judging. Stop playing the role of judge, jury and executioner. This was never your role. This was never yours to command in the first place. The Church of Hypocrites needs to die a fast, sudden death! It cannot continue to flourish. It has existed for far too long within the fellowship of believers. Call it the remnants of sin, call it unforgiveness, call it what you want…but it needs to die! We cannot thrive, we cannot survive like this anymore!

To The Victims of Hypocrisy
Forgive me when I have judged you.
Forgive them when the church of the hypocrites have wronged you.
You have a reason to be angry.
You have every excuse to retaliate.
You have every excuse to walk away and quite your search of godly people.
But don’t.
In your forgiveness, please be the example of Christ that we have failed to be.
Please show us the error of our ways by how you do not return that spite!
Please rise above this.
Please try to see us as fallen too.

Dear Salvation Army,
We cannot ever tolerate the Church of the Hypocrites.
We cannot allow this to exist among our ranks.
There are no favorites in these ranks.
There are no exceptions.
We cannot pursue both Holiness and Hypocrisy.
We cannot thrive with this poison in our veins.
There is not place for it in our corps, or in our halls, or in our offices.

Micah 6:8 Says;
“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.“

We can never love mercy and walk humbly with our God when we are better than others.
We can never exist humbly in fellowship with God if we wrong our brother and sister in Christ.
We can never be a holy Soldier for Him while wearing our uniforms and judge others by our human standards.

Dear Soldiers of the faith,
We were never called to be the Church of the Hypocrites, nor allow it to remain within our ranks.
It begins in my heart.
It begins in your heart.
From there we can change.
From there we can eradicate this blight on the soul.
From there we can change this Army from the inside out.
The real question is, are we willing to?

Something more for this Army to ponder today.
To God be the glory!

May 12, 2015 1

Ponder Cast #6 “Judgment Call”

Welcome back to Pastorsponderings.org, please check out our latest Ponder Cast #6 “Judgement Call”. To listen, please click on the link here:
“Judgement Call” Podcast Link
Please subscribe, share and tune in often as we post new content almost daily!
Last week we jumped from like 3,000th place in the “Spiritual/Religion” category on our podcast host site to 94th…that’s just crazy! Thanks for listening and supporting the Ponder Cast!

May 12, 2015 0

Dear Salvation Army, The Missing Ingredient!

Salvation of the sinner is only the first blessing.

It is a vital ingredient, but it should not be considered the end product.

Let me illustrate this for you with a story:
I once baked a chocolate cake for my family.
I followed the recipe very carefully, and soon the aroma of that perfect cake baking in the oven began wafting throughout our home. We were all salivating at the wonderful smells coming for the oven. Soon, the chocolate cake was ready, and so I took it out of the oven to cool. When it had cooled sufficiently, I cut the first piece and tasted it only to discover, with great disappointment, that I had forgotten a crucial ingredient – sugar. It was sour to the taste and because of that one missing ingredient, the whole cake was ruined.

Salvation is a vital ingredient to the Christian life, but the second blessing, His indwelling is equally important. Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are incomplete and we will never be whole. Holiness does not mean human perfection, but it does mean that we intentionally long to reflect Christ in all that we do and say. In other words, the very fiber of our being longs to become like Christ in every way, shape and form.

Without the desire to grow and mature in our faith we will be missing a crucial ingredient in this Christian faith. “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation…” 1 Peter 2:2 Once we are saved and have accepted Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for our sins, we are then urged by the Holy Spirit to develop and grow into this new life. We cannot simply remain at the altar of Salvation feasting upon spiritual milk; we must grow up and mature! Unfortunately, many Christians live without experiencing this missing ingredient of holiness. Many believers simply stop growing in the faith, they stop learning about Christ and the application that it has on their lives. Holiness is about taking that next step of faith. It is a vital ingredient in our pursuit of Christ-likeness, our personal holiness journey. Without feet to our faith, we are stunting that potential reflection of Christ in our lives.

There seems to be a missing ingredient in modern Christianity today – Holiness.
No, not all Churches struggle with the ingredient of holiness, some, perhaps just do not emphasize it enough.

We, as The Salvation Army, must never forget its importance in the recipe of personal and corporate faith! We, as an organization and mission, were born into the holiness movement of the Church! May we never lose our way! May we never forget its vital importance! May we never stop preaching about holiness in our corps. Sometimes it is easy to forget how vital Holiness is to our everyday lives. Perhaps there have been days that we have all stumbled along the pathway of duty. Perhaps we have not preached it from the pulpits enough. Perhaps we have forgotten to include this crucial ingredient in our corps and in our other ministries…in our own lives. May we never lose this important message of holiness in our Army! We are called to more than just salvation! We must grow up in our faith and get off of the infant formula and start feeding upon deeper, more substantive things! We are called to live and reflect Christ to the world…may we as soldiers of salvation do just that today…not because we belong to The Salvation Army, but because we first belong to Christ himself.

Something more for our Army world to ponder today.
To God be the glory!

May 11, 2015 0

Ponder Cast #5 “Moving Into The Unknown”

A new “ponder cast” is up, click on this link to listen, download, subscribe and share:
Ponder Cast #5 “Moving Into The Unknown”

May 6, 2015 0

Dear Salvation Army, Why I Don’t Agree With “Saved to Save”

Today we ponder The Salvation Army’s quote of “Saved to Save” and why I don’t necessarily agree with it.
Clarification: I am not discounting the fact that God can save us, in fact that is the crux of this statement in my opinion.

Dear Salvation Army, I don’t believe we are saved to save.
There I’ve said it.

I believe the Holy Spirit has saved us, I am not disagreeing with that by any means.
I know what it means to kneel at the altar of repentance and receive forgiveness and salvation.
I also believe in the second blessing – the Holy Spirit’s indwelling in our lives.
When He takes up residence in our lives we begin, with His direction and prodding, the intentional shift of reflecting more and more of Christ and less and less of our old lives (Holiness).

Thus when we are saved we do not go out and save others.
I believe that the saving is NOT the work that we have been called to do.
Instead, we are called to be holy.
In this response we begin to see others the way Christ sees them.
We begin to love the way Christ loves.
It isn’t perfect…and perhaps it may never be, but the initial transformation must begin internally before it can be transformative in the lives of others.

What I’m not saying
I am not saying we aren’t called to lead others to Christ.
I am also not saying that we don’t show care for others.

In fact we, through this internal transformation, begin to see the necessity to usher others to Christ.
We begin to understand how vital the new life is for others.

BUT…
Here is where I draw the line.
Here is where I wage and struggle with the Salvation Army’s understanding of this quote.
Whose work is it to save?
Who does the prodding of the heart and the pleading of the soul?
Who takes aim at the conviction of sin and implores the search of forgiveness?
For me the answer has always been the Holy Spirit.

What is our responsibility then?
What are we as Soldiers of the cross to do?
We sing songs like “The world for God” and “Marching on“, and I wonder if we sometimes turn the warfare of sin and the spiritual realms into something narcissistic, and it then becomes all about us? It then becomes all about what WE can do instead of what the Holy Spirit IS doing.

There is always the temptation to say look how wonderful The Salvation Army is, look at the amazing things that we have done and the amazing things that we are doing. Slowly, the focus is taken off of the Holy Spirit and more on our shiny uniforms, our programs and our feats and accomplishments. I am not saying that we always do this, but I am saying that it does become a temptation, that it does enter into our thoughts and motivations.

Our responsibility was never to “saved to save”.
Our responsibility was never to be the salvation of man.
We are merely the conduit of this amazing grace.
We are merely called to be faithful.
Our responsibility is first a call to faithfulness to The Holy Spirit.
We can do nothing without this first response.
We are powerless to save anyone let alone ourselves.
How can we then say that we are saved to save?
I am more inclined to say we are saved to serve.
We are saved first, and then most importantly, we serve and respond to the Holy Spirit.
Then, and only then, we are saved to serve suffering humanity.
This response can be simultaneous and should compel us to respond as Christ would to the suffering of others. We must respond to His call on our lives to serve Him as HE saves!
Without Him we cannot save.
Without Him we can only do good works and be another social service agency.
That isn’t all bad, good things are done here…BUT we are called to be more.
We are called to BE holy…and from this calling, we serve Him and in turn we serve others.

You may differ from my opinion…that’s fine.
We are called, and from this calling we go.
Regardless of if we are “Saved to Serve” or “Saved to Save”, may our immediate response to the Holy Spirit be one of obedience.

Something more for This Army of Salvation to ponder today.
To God be the glory!

May 5, 2015 11

PastorsPonderings Wins Blogging Award!!!

Today, I was informed that Pastorsponderings.org has won an award from Canadian Church Press awards in the category of “Best Blogs”!! I am extremely honored to have even been considered for this prestigious award. What a privilege to be able to write about life, our spiritual journeys and Christian living and to be recognized for it.

Here’s the news site about the award:
http://salvationist.ca/2015/05/army-magazines-and-website-win-15-awards/
http://canadianchurchpress.com/awards/

Here’s to another great year of blogging and journalism!
Thank you for tuning in, reading, subscribing and sharing this Pastorsponderings.org!
What an awesome honor it is to be recognized for doing what I love.

-Blessings on you today!

-Scott.

May 4, 2015 0

Ponder Cast #4 “Hide and Seek”

Here is “Ponder Cast #4”, click on the link below to listen, subscribe, download and share!
Blessings on you today!
Click Here: http://scottstrissel.podomatic.com/entry/2015-05-04T09_51_33-07_00

May 4, 2015 0

Ponder Cast #3 (A Pastorspondering.org Podcast Series) “Diligence and Perseverance”

Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. ¹⁶Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4:15,16)

Please click on the link below to listen and download our latest “Ponder Cast” – #3 “Diligence and Perseverance”.
Also please share, and subscribe! Thanks!

Podcast Link:
http://scottstrissel.podomatic.com/entry/2015-04-30T10_51_44-07_00

April 30, 2015 0

Dear Salvation Army, Earthquakes, Fires, Disaster…We Are There!

Today I write with encouragement.
Today I take off my critical lenses on this army that I love and I wish to encourage you.
Every one of these entries on pastorsponderings known as “Dear Salvation Army” has a purpose. All of these postings and articles are intentional and purposeful. All of them are constructive in nature, geared for the purposes of improving our Army, not tearing it down. I want us to work together in this. I want us to march onward (so to speak) and continue to win souls for Christ. If we lose this momentum we will fail at our mission. If we lose this momentum we will never achieve our vision.

Today: (News From IHQ)
http://www.salvationarmy.org/ihq/news/inr290415
Nepal.
The Salvation Army is in Nepal.
We are providing aid and much needed funds and supplies.
I know that we care.
I know that lives matter.
I know that it’s not just about winning souls, but taking care of men, women and children.
What happened to one of the poorest, most congested cities in the world is horrible…but I know that we, among others, are there!

When utter disaster faces occurs, people are desperate for help.
We can be that source.
We can be that life line.
We are that life line.

I am not painting a perfect picture of The Salvation Army.
I am not proclaiming us “the best organization” in the world.
I am not saying “look at us, look at us”…BUT I believe God has placed us here to be His hands and feet to the world. We have access to many places in the world where other organizations can’t go. Our soldiers are on the ground in some of the most remote places in the world. This is no accident. This is no coincidence. I firmly believe that God has placed us in those places. How we react and how we offer salve to those hurts matters!

Questions to Ponder:
Has God called you to serve in this Army?
Are you responding to His calling every day?
Will you go if He tells you to go?
What can you do for Him?

May it never be about how flashy or how good we look in a uniform, but may it always be about responding to God’s calling in faithfulness, humility and love. When everything is stripped away, may our Army of Salvation be genuine…may our Army be true…may our Army be forever compassionate to the hurting and the lost wheresoever they may live in our world.

Will you be there?
Will we provide aid, love, hope, compassion, joy, light?
Something more for our Army to ponder today!

Please keep Nepal in your prayers, and seek out ways that you can support these vital efforts!
To God be the glory!

For more links and ways to help please visit the sites below:
https://secure20.salvationarmy.org/donation.jsp
http://www.salvationarmy.org/ihq/nepalearthquake;jsessionid=BC2A283C79B7CC9AB73273B5C55AA3AD
https://secure20.salvationarmy.org/donation.jsp?projectId=IHQ-NepalEarthquake

April 29, 2015 0

Author: Pastor'sPonderings