Breaking News…”Misremembering” And The Quest For Integrity

Brian Williams has been suspended from NBC this week.
Longtime NBC anchorman was challenged by others within the media world as to the substance of his “encounters” while reporting on the Iraq war in 2003. His “misremembering” of specific details has left some scratching their heads while others calling for his immediate termination. Whether intentional or not, the fallout of “misremembering” at the journalistic level will undoubtedly have consequences.

Similarly, within the Christian world “misremembering” and/or inconsistencies of witness will also undoubtedly have consequences! Like those who report the news nationally and internationally, Christians leaders are looked up to. They provide other Christians and would-be believers vital information, sources of hope, and godly direction. Integrity and honesty should be a given, although there have been some who have fallen from grace over the years.

The witness of Christians can become greatly devalued when inconsistencies and misremembering takes place. What good is it to speak of love and grace and even Jesus when suddenly we misremember how we are to treat other people? What good are these Christian qualities when our actions and attitudes do not resemble our words? Worse yet, what good is it to go to church and sing all the right songs and pray all the right prayers only to walk out of those doors and resemble anything but a Christ follower in our unhealthy habits, speech and actions?

Do we run the risk of running empty on integrity when we misremember how we are to be as Christians? You bet we do! The unfortunate consequences of lack of integrity as people of faith is that we will lead people away from God. Why would people want to seek out Christ when His very own followers do not practice what they preach?

Two things happen when we live within the “misremembered” and dishonest walk of “faith”

1. Our Christian witness is compromised, phony and detremental to others who are ACTUALLY living as God has called the faithful to live. We are not only ruining the chances of potential new believers coming to the faith, but we are making it even harder on other believers who are living lives of integrity. It only takes a few rotten apples to ruin the whole bunch. When others look at the church they will mostly likely first see the rotten ones. We must be aware of our witness to others…it matters THAT much!

2. Our personal faith and growth will be stunted.
“…from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.” (James 3:10-12)
Living a dishonest life within the realms of faith will inevitably shortchange our potential maturity and growth. We cannot live this way. As James puts it “this ought not be this way“. We jeopardize not only the Christian witness to others, but we tarnish our own paths and limit what God can do through us by living this way. Living a “misremembered” life that lacks integrity is cheap and unfortunately more common than not. Dare I say that Christ has called us to live the uncommon life that is full of integrity, love and obedience!

Let’s face it, Brian Williams isn’t the only one who has “misremembered” things, he was just caught.
Many are just as guilty of this same character flaw. Brian Williams just happened to be in the public eye reporting the news. Will there be more who will fall from grace? Of course…but you and I do not have to be included in this statistic if we are mindful of this trap! Integrity is a valuable, often tarnished commodity that many lack today. As people of faith, we ought to make it our goal to strive to live integrity in all that we do and all that we are!

Let’s stop the “misremembering” madness in our own lives and start practicing honesty, sincerity and truth both in word and deed.

Something more to ponder today!

February 12, 2015 1

Churches – “We’re outsourcing our benevolence funds”…Really?

Is the need that great?
Are churches having trouble “keeping up”?
Why are some churches outsourcing the care of the poor to agencies?
Isn’t there some sort of responsibility that churches ought to have in regards to helping those in need?

It is mind boggling to me when I come across community churches that have outsourced one of its primary functions in as Christians to a created agency to facilitate. They are happy to funnel their “charity” funds into a created social service office somewhere off of their church buildings. It almost says to the outside world – we’re interested only in those who can support themselves but we don’t want the riffraff of society in our beautiful buildings.

The Benefit of the doubt:
Granted, there are always new legalities and policies within cities taking place which makes it difficult for some churches to serve the needy.

Secondly, some churches do not have the budgets for staffing full time social service employees to facilitate this need.

Thirdly, storage and distribution space.

But…
(and it’s a big one) does this mean ONLY parishioners/members of that church can have access to services?
The danger in this kind of model of social distribution of services (and it really does exist) is that support for individuals in need is managed in a discriminatory fashion. If you do not belong to the “club” you cannot receive help…”but here are a list of food pantries in the area that we can direct you to.” That’s all well and good but don’t you think the message it is sending is “you don’t belong here, please go somewhere else…Members only!”?

Outsourcing:
The only kind of outsourcing Jesus did was delegating responsibilities to his disciples.
It was for their education as disciples.
It was to help them and to grow as future leaders.
Jesus didn’t send people on their way to the temple administrators.
He didn’t tell some “I can’t heal you because you aren’t a member”

Why do some churches take this path?
Does it deviate from the true purpose of “Church”?
Does it seem to send a message of “We care, but not in our backyard“?

I ponder these things today with open questions because honestly I don’t have the answers.
I just see that certain churches have become pretentious in appearances and treat benevolence like a blight or an annoyance that they deal with once or twice a year with a collection.

Is this not important?
Are we not to care for the orphans, widows and poor?
Has it become beneath the modern American church?
If that person isn’t a member is there any help that we can give them?

Something more to ponder today.

February 2, 2015 2

Dear Salvation Army, Too Much Rhetoric Not Enough Practice??

You don’t have to be in a political office in order to view politics…it’s everywhere including the church.
Church/corps splits have happened because of truly silly things – “the color of the carpet in the sanctuary”…really??

I’m feeling a little feisty today, so please bear with me.

Rhetoric…and Holiness???
The Salvation Army struggles with too much rhetoric and not enough practice sometimes.
What do I mean by this?
We (like any church) are so good at saying all of the right things.
We (like any church) are so good at wearing all the right clothes…ahem the uniform.
We (like any church) are so good at touting our scripture verses and doctrines…but can it become more about outward appearances like when the DC, TC or General comes to visit than about personal/corporate holiness?

Sometimes I feel as if we are very good at polishing the outside of the cup while we just keep neglecting to do the hard stuff like cleaning the inside of the cup (our hearts). We try and try to impress the “brass” with our efforts and works but are we truly living consistently? This isn’t some sort of witch-hunt today. I’m not pointing the finger at anymore more than I am pointing fingers. back. at. myself.

This is Personal…
This is truly personal.
if this resounds with anyone else, then great!
Let’s do something about this together.
I honestly know that I am not the only one who struggles with this.
We are so good at singing ‘the Founder’s Song’ in Holiness meeting and thirty minutes later we’re at our favorite “Sunday Lunch Spot” complaining about the wait time, the server, we barely give a tip and then we complain on our way home about the traffic and some ignorant sap who just cut us off…do you get what I’m saying?

This is Deadly…
I, for one, do not want to be a member of the Salvation Army in Laodicea, if you get what I mean (Revelations 3:14-22).
If I’m honest, I’d rather rip off this uniform and walk away from it all before I start striving to become a pew warmer and a luke-warm one at that. The church of Laodicea, according to Revelation, didn’t get their act together. They didn’t have the passion to serve Christ as His bride. They weren’t on fire for Him, instead they were barely tepid in their faith. Sometimes I feel that in our Army we walk a fine line too. We can utter all of the “catch-phrases” of our Army like “Fire a volley” and “Hallelujah” but on the inside we’re so caught up in the bickering and pettiness that are missing out on the fire of the Holy Spirit. I don’t think we need another Pentecost, it’s already here we are just so caught up in our own issues that we can’t see it…that’s just how I see it…I hope I’m wrong. When did we desire to be a mediocre Army? When did we sign up to warm a pew but as soon as the hard work comes we’re suddenly absent? If we are truly “witnesses for Jesus” why aren’t we more visible with this message in the streets? We cannot hole ourselves up in beautiful Halls of worship and expect the brokeness of neighborhoods to be mended by how well we sing and play an instrument. We’ve got to get on with it! We’ve got to either catch fire and be moved by the Holy Spirit or we need to get out of the way and stop hampering the Spirit and the potential growth of other Soldiers. Either warm up or be spit out.

This is real…
I have felt this sting of conviction.
I don’t write this as a “guilt trip” for anyone before it strikes my heart and brings ME up short first.
We need to stop “playing” army and be army.
We need to stop fighting amongst each other and fight the real war for the souls of those who are lost.
We need to stop spouting half-empty words of rhetoric when our hearts aren’t in it and instead fall upon our faces and recommit ALL OF WHO WE ARE to Christ once more.
We do not need pew warmers and more apathetic bodies in uniforms, instead we need leaders who are servant who will serve and love regardless of where someone came from or what their last name might be.
We don’t have time to play “church politics”…this gets in the way and stunts our growth as a corporate body of holiness.

It’s “Put up” or “Shut-Up” time.
I have seen the walking dead amongst soldiers and officers.
I have seen the passion-less works of apathetic hearts.
I have witnessed the “going through the motions” without a resemblance of the practice of holiness.
We have a choice.
We can either put up or shut up.
We can either live lives worthy of this calling upon our lives, or we can stop pretending and get out of the way.
This is a wake up call.
This is a call to holiness.
This is a reminder that there is more to it than donning on the uniform and spouting all the right words.

How is your heart today?
How is your spiritual journey?
This is something more for our Army to ponder today.
To God be the glory!

January 26, 2015 2

“Cleaning the inside of the Cup”

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.26“You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.” -Matthew 23:25,26

I hate doing dishes, just ask my wife…There, I’ve said it.
Sometimes I put dishes into the dishwasher and put that little soap dispenser in and just hope for the best.
Most of the time that little soap dispenser lets me down…but sometimes I get lucky.

We do this too sometimes within our spiritual journeys too.
This passage of scripture may have been originally directed at the Pharisees and “hypocrites”, but it may as well have been directed at us too.
Jesus blasts these teachers and scholars of the Torah. They know all the right things to do and all the right things to say, but their hearts are far from clean.

Sometimes we just load up our spiritual practices.
We just pile up the songs and scriptures and outfits that we wear…and we hope for the best.
Sometimes we get lucky.
Many times we do not.
A lot of the time, it makes us feel hollow and empty inside…almost as if something is missing or somehow, something has been overlooked.

Why?
Because the inside of the “cup” has not been cleaned.
We can polish away at the soft glow of a sparkling clean exterior, but if the interior is still gross and filthy – what good will that polishing do? I’m sure we can fool everybody. We can fool even ourselves into thinking we have it made spiritually…but we aren’t fooling God.

News Flash:
You. Can’t. Fool. God!

I’m not saying we don’t sing songs of praise.
I’m not saying we don’t read the scriptures.
I’m not even saying “don’t go to church”.
But if all that we do is for “appearances”…then what’s the point?
If all we do in “worship” is hope that we sound good and “man did that worship team nail that last song“…we’re misguided and we could be avoiding the “camel” for the gnat (Matthew 23:24)…me may have some serious internal issues to deal with.

How is the inside of your cup?
Does it still need work?
Does it still need some cleaning?
A lot of cleaning?

This is a personal thing.
This is deeply personal…and yet this is also a corporate “Church-family” thing too.
Each of us should be mindful first of the condition of our own hearts before we even begin to contemplate the condition of others.

Are you sick of just going through the motions in Church? –So am I!
Are you tired of comparing yourself with others of the faith because they seem to have it all together and you’re just pretending? -So am I!
Are you ready to do the hard work?
Are you prepared to allow the Holy Spirit to strip away the grime and caked on gunk in your heart? -Me too.
You see this is the constant work of the Lord.
We must not stop seeking to be like Christ in our lives today.
We must not give up because holiness seems to be so far from where we are right now.

How is your cup?
May you seek Him out.
May you diligently allow Him to reveal and remove the dirt within.
God Bless you today!

-Something more for us all to ponder today.
To God be the glory!

January 13, 2015 2

What if we are “doing” Church all wrong? Pt. 2

Yesterday I talked about three erroneous ways in which we go about “doing” church (Link: What if we are “doing” Church all wrong Pt.1) Somebody pointed out to me that we don’t really “do” church, instead we’re supposed to “be” church…He was absolutely correct. That being said, more than often church goers are rooted in the location that their church building resides. We are called to “be” His Bride.
We are called to “be” sons and daughters of the Most High.
We are called to “be” hold as He is holy.

The “Ceremony”
Yet, there are times when the things we “do” in church becomes our primary focus.
Don’t get me wrong, some of these acts of worship are important and can lead us into a deeper fellowship with other believers and more importantly with God…but what if our “being” gets overshadowed by our “doing”? What happens then? What I mean is this: What happens when the ceremony, and following the “proper” forms of worship (whatever that looks like from denomination to denomination) becomes more important that the true meaning behind all of those ceremonies and forms?

Could we just be “playing” church?
Do you remember when you were a kid?
We used to play Cowboys and Indians, or “Dress-up” or Doctor. It was a fun imaginary game. We would assume these roles and play the part, and it was fun.

Is that what we sometimes do in church?
Are we just going through the necessary motions that we think we should be going through?
Are we “playing” church? Sure, it’s fun from time to time, it’s like an acting gig in a drama. We know all the right things to say,we wear all the right outfits, we sing all the right songs, but are we missing the mark? Are we missing the real reason we gather in the first place?

News Flash: God doesn’t want our ceremonies and our acting gigs. He wants our hearts. He simply wants us to “Be” His and His alone! He doesn’t want to share us with anything else in this world. God is truly a jealous God seeking after our hearts and lives. Even distractions and ceremony can become our idols of worship if we are not careful. Churches could be “doing” church simply because that’s how it’s always been done (Tradition), and so they maintain those traditions which can lead to losing any and all original significance on the premise of “maintaining”. Other churches could be “doing” church simply because they strive to do worship drastically different than prior generations (Contemporary), and so they maintain that level of worship which can also lead to losing any and all original significance on the premise of “being different and more progressive”. There’s nothing wrong with forms of worship unless they begin to replace God.

One might think I’m taking this too far, but hear me out.
“Doing church” is less important that “being” the church. Sometimes we sacrifice significance and holiness in exchange for forms of worship and proper protocol. We can become so stiff in our regulations of worship and what we think worship should look like that we can eventually lose all meaning.

When I think of this danger, I am immediately drawn to two stories in scripture:
1) Cain and Able
2) The Pharisees in Jesus’ day.
Cain – didn’t offer God the best, he did go through the motions of his offering, but it didn’t mean anything to him. His offering was the left overs, lacking love – it was “doing” church. God wasn’t pleased with this ceremony of worship. God knew Cain’s heart. It’s like two lovers confessing their love for one another. After the first says “I love you”, the other says “Well I kinda like you”… that’s just not good enough. It’s surfaced. It’s not what God desires. It’s all or nothing.

The Pharisees/Hypocrites in Jesus’ Day: “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6“But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.…” (Matthew 6:5,6)

In other words, are our prayers (and even forms of worship) merely for the benefit of others? Are we acting our parts in church? Are we doing church all wrong?

The word ‘Hypocrite’ literally means “actor”.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be a hypocrite.
I don’t want to be an actor in church, I want to be genuine in my faith.
I honestly do not want to go through any kind of motions just because that’s how we always do it.

Questions:
Are we merely acting in church?
Have we lost the meaning of what we do in our forms of worship?
Have we stopped ‘being’ holy so that we can ‘do’ church?
Are we more afraid of offending the formal pattern followers in church than we are in offending God in our offerings?
Are we seeking to please God or others?
Is this all that Church is about for us?
Soldiers: Are we more concerned in pleasing our officers, our founders in how we look and act than how we are in pleasing God in our genuine offerings?
Are there sacred cows that need to be finally put down and sacrificed to God?

If I’m honest, this article is all about me.
I’m the hypocrite…if you relate, perhaps we’re in the same boat.
Sometime’s I have been more interested in getting everything just right in worship than I have been about getting my heart right. Sometimes it’s much easier being the actor than it is to be real. -can you relate…I hope you can! (Please tell you can relate!)
I’m not criticizing, I’m just wondering how often we act the part in ‘doing’ church instead of ‘being’ His?
Again, more questions that answers.

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

January 9, 2015 4

What if we are “doing” Church all wrong?

Have you ever stopped to wonder about why we do what we do in church?
Was this how Jesus did “church”?
Was this how those first disciples and apostles did “church”?
How did some of these practices come to be…and what if we’re doing “Church” all wrong?

Let’s face it – Church is more than a building.
It is more than ceremony and ritual.
It goes deeper than the color of the carpets and how comfortable the pews are.
It is more than how much this entity gives to Missions, World Services and Benevolence funds.

Here are 3 ways (trust me there are more) that could indicate whether we’re going about “Church”
all wrong:

Erroneous Concept #1:
It’s all about the music –
Believe it or not, the role of music within the early church consisted more of chants than fancy electronics, strobe lights, amplified guitars and thumping drums. Many times the usage of music was more to bring to mind the works of psalmists and other well known songs of praise from the Torah. All of these songs or chants pointed to the Almighty. His deeds. What He has done for us.

Many people, within a wide demographic, (not just the younger generations) tend to gravitate to those churches that possess a rockin’ worship team. Many times the focus becomes more about the band playing all of our favorite worship songs than about the content of any scriptural teaching.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE, LOVE music. I love worship bands and performing/leading worship music…but it shouldn’t become the focus and sole identity to any church. People should not come and go solely because they like the music or they think the music stinks (or is too loud). These reason for staying or leaving a church seems to me to be very fickle and shallow. It almost says to me “I only go to church to be fed and I have no responsibilities other than receiving what I WANT”. -Don’t even get me started on traditional or contemporary styles either…SERIOUSLY does it truly matter in the grand scheme of things? It’s a preference, it shouldn’t dictate (or become the sole reason) which church you go to.

Erroneous Concept #2
Church is about MY entertainment…it’s all about the “show”!
It is both a blessing and a bane to grow up in such a media saturated culture.
We spend hours and hours a week on social media sites, we check the weather, sports, latest news feeds via our portable devices (even during church…ahem…)…and so when we view “Church” through THIS lens, we sometimes expect to be entertained at church as if it’s some sort of show. Why else go to church? (sarcastic font) Why else pause our latest episode on some season that we’re currently watching on netflix and come to church? In our day and age we want entertainment…and so we seek out those churches that “gets it”. We want videos, and music and drama so that we feel like we could reach for a bag of popcorn while singing “Mighty to save“…don’t choke on that kernel. (sarcasm again, sorry)

Is that how we truly view God as well?
Some higher divine form, God of the universe, the “Big Cheese” sent here to “entertain” us?
I mean, beyond the smoke and mirrors, and big screen tv’s and expensive sound systems…what sort of substance is there? Don’t get me wrong, there are some very slick churches that DO get the message across this way. I even use videos in my services, but is THIS all that “church” is about? Have we, in some way, lost our way? Are we so focused on ways to entertain that we have begun to lose the main reason we gather in the first place? And what does it say about us when our attention spans are so short that, in our minds, we’re flipping channels and checking our facebook status’ in church during the “boring parts”…oh what’s it called? Oh, that’s right THE MESSAGE or the teaching, or the sermon…whatever your church calls it. Could it be that we’re in search of the wrong things in church? Could it be that we demand these things in our worship while subconsciously we’re look every which way other than in the direction of Jesus?

Erroneous Concept #3
Church is all about “OUR” Fellowship and edification!
Sometimes our entire focus in Church remains “IN”.
Now, what do I mean by that?
What I mean is that sometimes we stop looking outside of our pretty buildings and fancy sanctuaries. Sometimes we stop looking into our own communities. We usually don’t do this on purpose. It’s just safer this way. It’s easier to just “hang out” with our church friends. It can almost become an exclusive social club where outsiders aren’t welcome…and if we do get the occasional visitor, either they fit into our mold or we just pity them. What happened to becoming “all things to all people”? (1 Corinthians 9:22) Do we care about others? Do we still care about the lost? The hurting? The broken? Or do we just wall ourselves up in our churches and expect those that view as sinners and wretches to just come to us if we sing all of the right songs and act in just the right way? Has the Great Commission taken a back seat to our comfort and safety?

Sometimes we have this division between our “Church life” and our “Work” or “School” or “Social” lives. Seriously, do we behave differently from one area of our lives to the next? Do we differentiate and keep these places separated?
When we get to church it can become about not only “entertain me” but this is “My group of friends, My source of strength…not yours”. It’s easy to fall into this train of thought. It happens because we crave acceptance with a group, and we don’t really like change. When new comers come, it upsets the balance of OUR Church.

Were the disciples like this?
Was the early Church a social club? An internally focused community?
Was it one dimensional like that? -NO.

Sure there is safety in Christian fellowship, and in a way that’s good.
BUT, if this fellowship only benefits you and your group and there is not outward looking focus then we are doing “Church” all wrong!

Questions to consider:
Who is your church ministering to?
What are the reasons you go to church?
Why do you worship the way that you do?
Are there aspects of your motivation to worship that are misconstrued, improper, shallow?
How can you break these erroneous molds (when they appear) in your church, in your life?

Note: there’s nothing inherently wrong with any of the three things that I mentioned,rather if they become an idol in our worship and n our religious practices then we have issues to contend with. Be mindful of the true purpose for Church. Be aware of the trappings that surround our practices…and in so doing, perhaps we will regain the proper priorities if they have become lost.

Something more to ponder today.
To God be the glory…far above anything else!
-Amen.

Ps. Thank you for subscribing to http://www.pastorsponders.org
Thank you for your comments and your questions!

January 8, 2015 2

Dear Salvation Army – 5 Things They Don’t Prepare You For In Officer’s Training

Let’s face it, not everything can be taught in a class room.
Would it shock you, dear soldier, to know that they can’t teach you everything you need to know about becoming an Officer while at training college? Probably not. But when the rubber does meet the road, and when an officer is finally commissioned and takes their first appointment, they will still have to learn A LOT! Somethings just can’t be taught without first experiencing them first hand.

Today I have listed only 5 things that they don’t prepare Officers for while at the college for Officer’s training.
It’s not that they didn’t want to teach these things, but as I’ve already said, somethings must be learned while on the field.
There are many more categories of experiences that Officers can’t learn while in training, these are just a few:

1. The Realities Of Non-Profit Finances
Budgeting class is still a far cry from ACTUALLY crunching the numbers in your community and ensuring you have enough funds to cover payroll, bills, and other incidentals that frequently pop up. Unlike the class room setting, in real life certain sections of this budget has human identities associated with the numbers you come up with. Become too conservative with a figure in the employees section of the budget could mean you have to eventually cut a person from your staff…that’s not fun at all!

Secondly, often you will find that there just isn’t a lot of money to work with.
You might be blessed to be sent to a community that supports your efforts and the finances are sound, but more than likely you will find that every dollar is difficult to raise and equally harder to hold onto. We all know it’s not strictly about the money is it? It’s about providing opportunities and resources for people that we can help. Without those quickly evaporating funds, you will find it a struggle to meet human needs in His name!

2. The Need For Personal Mentors And Encouragers
I remember many Cadets in my session who were about to be commission groan about the arduous lifestyle while at training college. How constricting it was. How they couldn’t wait to finally get out of there. I felt that way too sometimes, but in reality when we were finally sent out and appointed to specific locations, many quickly recognized how seemingly isolated appointments can truly be. Even in metro appointments, the work schedules do not allot for much connection time with other officers. A recently appointed officer can begin to feel alone and even abandoned. Our first appointment was five hours from our Divisional Headquarters. Sometimes that felt like a blessing, while other times it felt like it may as well have been 4000 miles away.

Officers need encouragers and mentors.
We cannot do this great work alone and without support. Find a pastoral association to belong to. Locate a pastor from a different denomination in your community to connect with. Seek out friendship. For those that are introverts this can be difficult to do (putting yourself out there) but it is necessary for your sanity and survival. The question often becomes “who shepherds the shepherd?” Certainly your divisional headquarters has a role to play in this, some are good at it and some not so much. Honestly most divisional officers that I know make a concerted effort but they are just as busy as you are.
News Flash: Don’t depend solely on your divisional staff to support you within the role of encouragers and mentors…it’s just not going to be immediate (most of the time). Seek out friends, other pastors, sometimes mature members of your corps can help too. You need this type of relationship to keep you going…trust me, it’s not necessarily spoken much of at training college but without it you will feel utterly alone, defeated, and potentially in your office drafting your resignation letter.

3. The Brokenness Of Humanity And Counseling That Brokenness
Some of the stories that we hear as officers behind closed doors in an attempt to counsel people are heart breaking. We all, more than likely, had a counseling class in training… but it fails in comparison to the time consuming sessions we will face in our officership. Sometimes there aren’t easy answers and quick fixes to a lifetime of problems and hurts that will enter your office. Sometimes all we can do is whisper prayers to the Lord for guidance in the midst of these horrifying tales of abuse, hurt and sadness. We truly do have an opportunity to impact the broken in our communities.

Don’t assume you’re Dr. Phil or Dr Oz or whoever…this isn’t some sort of tv show. These are lives. They matter. Be in earnest prayer for those that will walk into your office. Gird yourselves before these sessions take place…sometimes they are spontaneous and without that preparation of prayer you will be caught off guard. Be encouraged though, this is what you signed up to be and to do. Also be encouraged because the Great Physician will provide you direction and guidance. Lastly, where possible, have contacts for professional counselors in your area who can help. Refer some cases if you can, but that doesn’t mean you stop caring or don’t communicate with that person again. Remember they came to you…they trust you! That’s a heavy burden to carry and quite a responsibility too!

4. Love Over Knowledge
I was a gungho cadet, full of ideas and passion…that passion hasn’t left it’s only been re-tooled.
I remember, as many cadets do, walking across that platform to take that commission and appointment and thinking now everyone will finally see what I can do. Pride? Yes. Naive? You bet. But don’t lose that passion to serve and to save souls! Don’t back down from defeat and discouragements…they will happen. Difficult days will come.

Note to self: Stop trying to be “Super Officer!!!”

Here’s a clue for all you cadets still in training, and some of the best advice I’ve ever received from another officer and mentor: Beyond knowledge, love your corps members! Don’t look at this appointment as a stepping stone to a better appointment. Don’t overlook the needs of the few who come through your doors every Sunday and midweek. Love them. Cherish them. Show them Christ’s love. It will sometimes take great effort to show that kind of love. Sometimes you will become impatient and want to give up on some…but don’t. Don’t be led by all the head knowledge but have nothing in your heart for the ones you lead. It becomes obvious. People WILL know when you don’t love them. People WILL see beyond your grand schemes and plans and knowledge. Love first…and last.

5. Not Every Battle Will Be Victorious
“The world for God! The world for God!
I give my heart! I’ll do my part!
The world for God! The world for God!
I give my heart! I’ll do my part!” -Evangeline Booth

Not every battle will be victorious, dear soldier. Some battles will be lost. Some soldiers, some corps members, some recent converts will walk away. Some will reject the love we offer, but we must do our part regardless of the losses in battle along the way. If we are faithful and true to our First Love, we will overcome. It will be far easier for us to give up. It will be much, much easier to walk away. To also throw up our hands, retreat and never press forward again…but resist that temptation. In training we were surrounded by other cadets and officers who would spur us on. In the class room ideologies are shaped and formed. Ideas are born inside of us, but when we walk out to take appointments, we come face to face with battles we are far too ill-equipped to win on our own. We must rely on His power and might to not only sustain us but provide the victories in these un-winnable battles. When we exchange our power for His, all things become possible. When we exchange our feeble, temporal knowledge for His everlasting eternal knowledge – all things become possible. When we stop attempting to win the battle on our own and are driven to our knees in complete submission to Him – all things become possible…but it only happen when we die to self and become selfless like Him in every way.

Dear Cadets, Soldiers, Prospective Cadets (and even Officers) – You will NOT be fully prepared to go to those appointments. College for Officers training can never fully prepare you for all of the possibilities that the field will bring your way…but know this: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, The God of David goes with you. You are never alone. Lean on His direction. Seek Him out daily…even moment by moment. Be encouraged!

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

January 6, 2015 11

Dear Salvation Army: “Politics, Placation and the Papacy…”

…First the Papacy:
Pope Francis has done it again.
One could categorize him as a pope who is polarizing.
Still others might categorize him as a pope who has made difficult choices but also the right choices.
However you view this leader of the Catholic church, he is certainly NOT your average run of the mill Pope.
His latest leadership decision has been to appoint Cardinals and out of the 15 nominees, 9 hail from emerging countries of the developing world. News link: Pope Francis Names New Cardinals
I find it interesting that this leader has appointed new Cardinals from emerging countries. Think of it?! These countries do not have as much political or financial power as places like Italy, France, the United States and the United Kingdom but Pope Francis has appointed a majority of the new Cardinals from these places anyway?
Why?
This comes after his strong chastisement of current leadership and even stated they had “spiritual Alzheimer’s”.
Perhaps this leader has made these difficult decisions because they were the right decisions to make.
Perhaps, instead of placating incumbent, staunch “comfy” leaders, it was time to appoint new ones.
Perhaps, this leader (Pope Francis) recognizes where a majority of his church’s growth is taking place.

Is There a TSA Translation?
I’d like to say that we have it made in our Army.
That everything is hunky dory and peachy…but we have growth issues too!
When an organization stops growing and/or plateaus it can be a warning sign.

Questions:
Are we recognizing the fastest growing armies (Salvation Army corps, divisions, territories that is) in the developing world?
Do we, at times, play the political game because of where a majority of our World Services funds come from?
Do we, at times, placate and position ourselves in order to appoint leaders?
Some of these questions are well beyond me.
What do I know?
I am a lowly Captain.
But I am a soldier of this army.
I believe our voices are important…don’t you?
But it seems to me that there is something for us here.
Please don’t misunderstand my point.
I do not wish to emulate any other denomination other than our own.
We were created for a purpose, a holy purpose I believe.
We are not the Catholic church…nor should we ever strive to be.
We DO have much to learn though.
In retrospect we are this very, very, young Mission/Army of the Universal Christian Church (big ‘C’).
We have some growing to do.
God is not finished with us yet.
Perhaps, within this “growing”, there will be pains, groans, the occasional adjustment.

Are we all that we can be as an Army? (Sorry if I stole a line there from an old United States Army slogan)
Are we wise enough yet in our 150 year existence to recognize the need to shuck off politics, placating practices and to see the bigger Army – world wide?

I believe politics and policies at times ties our hands.
It hog ties us.
It holds us captive.
Dare I say, it places limits on the moving of the Holy Spirit in our Army…especially when there are far too many “hoops” to jump through these days to get anything done. Could it be that we have become like pharisees in rule keeping that we have far too many laws and rules to abide by that we truly cannot keep them all?

I’m certainly not advocating anarchy by any means, but I am wondering where this Army is going if we are too bogged down with maintaining instead of expanding this mission of the Lord?

Who knows, perhaps there IS something that we can learn from this rebel-rouser Pope…perhaps the days of Joe the Turk aren’t dead after all in this army…here’s to hoping anyway!
Something more for our Army to ponder today.
To God be the Glory.

January 5, 2015 1

What’s Killing The Church And Is It A Bad Thing?

The Church is dying at least in the traditional sense.
Perhaps it is not visibly seen in the mega church realms yet, but something is taking place in churches all around the United States. If one were to look solely at church attendance through the lens of entities such as the Barna group, one would see that the decline is quite remarkable and seems to continue trending this way for years to come.

Perhaps we have been asking the “why” question for quite some time now.
Perhaps that’s not the right question.
Perhaps the question we should be asking ourselves is this: “Is this really a bad thing?”

We are currently living in a world where spiritualism is on the rise while an individual identification of a specific religion is at an all time low. One might say that this is a terrible trend. One could argue, and rightly so, that spiritualism leads to many roads and many uncertain practices. Recently even Pope Benedict XVI chastised the leadership of the Catholic church for it’s polarizing mission.

Is the death of “Church” really a bad thing?
Pristine buildings.
Ritual practices.
Worship songs devoid of meaning.
Sermons with the same rhetoric and religious jargon.
…you get my point don’t you?
It sounds quite cynical I know.
But sometimes certain truths should be peeled back.
Sometimes we must allow our eyes to look upon the ugly cancerous parts of the church.
When the heart no longer follows the path of the holy.
When certain practices become high places and replaces the Most High.
Could it be that the death of “Church” is due to its first love being replaced with hollow practice, shallow traditions devoid of the Divine? I hope not, I really do.

But, if this is truly the case, is the death of such a shallow form really so bad after all?
Could it be that out of its ashes an authentic remnant, a reinvigorated, holy people shall rise again? Isn’t that sort of biblical? Every time the Hebrew people prostituted themselves out to foreign gods and false, shallow practices God led them into a time of spiritual death through captivity through foreign powers.

Is this a wake up call?
Is this a call into a deeper holiness?
Is this a warning to discard all that would distract?
Are we what Christ intended His disciples to become?
Are we still growing…or is our growth stunted, atrophied and broken?

Not to sound like a cliche’ but we cannot afford to simply go through the motions of religious practice.
We weren’t saved for this purpose.
We are all called to higher, more holy purpose.
Do we know what that holy purpose is anymore?
Have we lost our way?

I sure hope not…I really do.
Something more to ponder today.
To God be the glory!

December 30, 2014 2

Dear Salvation Army, I Wish I Had Known…

Regret.
Contrition.
Self-reproach.

Emotions that run deep beneath us.
Some propel us for the good.
Some dispel any and all forward progress we may have made.

You can’t live within your regrets.
You can’t burrow down beneath them and become spiritually disabled by them.
You can’t beat yourself up all of the time.

I believe that the Apostle Paul faced this type of self-reproach in his life too.
Having to say to yourself “I wish I had known”, might become a mantra of torture and pain.
Having to repeat these mistakes…let’s call them for what they might be – M-I-S-T-A-K-E-S…
I’m not trying to get you off the hook here.
I’m not trying to justify our prior actions here.
But what I am saying is this:

If you can’t learn to do this,
especially when we have received forgiveness
from God, then you will never be able to move forward
you will never be able to progress in this spiritual walk.
you will always be looking behind yourself
you will always be punishing yourself for
THOSE MISTAKES…

Paul reminds us of this truth.
He reminds us (and perhaps himself)
He warns us of uttering that phrase about our forgiven
past that still screams at us and
tries to convince us that we don’t deserve God’s grace…
that same past that shouts at us and tells us that
we are beyond reach of mercy and that we totally deserve
punishment for these awful mistakes.

Paul says to these “I wish I had knowns”
and he says to us:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Did you catch that?
Do you see the truth?
Can you understand that we’re all in the same boat here?
Our pasts and all of the mistakes we have made:
-Can propel us forward.
-Can be used for our betterment
–~~Can be~~ Are wiped clean.
-They don’t matter any more and they don’t live in our present.

Dear Soldier,
stop fighting a war with shadows of your past!
Stop waging a battle with ghosts that no longer exist.
Stop looking backward and the “I wish I had knowns”…they have been forgiven…you have been set free from them!

Don’t be defined by your past.
Don’t be defined by your mistakes.
Don’t give it a foothold in your present life…in your new life.

The father of lies would love for you to become crippled in your faith.
The great deceiver would try and convince you that you are of no worth and that your past is still very much present in your new life, and that little has changed.

I beg to differ.
Christ has set YOU FREE!
He didn’t do it partially.
He didn’t free you from the bondage of sin improperly.
He didn’t make a mistake with your free gift of Salvation.
You are free indeed!
You are a new creation.
You are forgiven.
You are save to save others through the mighty power of the Holy Spirit!
You are loved.
You are accepted though some will never accept you.
You are fit to be called a child of God!

So how about this, dear Soldier…

Stop the madness.
Stop the war inside your mind.
Stop hurting yourself spiritually.
Stop dwelling on the “I wish I had knowns”
Stop looking back at your old life and living there through regret.
Stop lingering on the shoulda, coulda, woulda’s in life and move onto the promises of God here and now in the present.