Who are you?
That question has been asked by every human who has ever lived one time or another.

Sometimes…
Identity is tied to what you do.
Identity is tied to who you marry.
Identity is tied to where you live.
Identity is tied to how many degrees you have hanging on the wall.
Identity is tied to the level of power and authority you crave and attain.

But in our Army…who are you?
I don’t mean “what is your rank?”
I don’t mean “where are you stationed?”
I don’t mean “Who are your parents or how many family members do you have in the army?”

Who are you in and out of The Army?

Questions for personal discovery and something to consider:
Is my personal identity solely link to the Army?
Do I “have a life” outside of the army?
What are my hobbies?
What am I passionate about?
(There are probably more questions to consider here as well)

Truth #1

Let me relieve some of you out there who feel burdened today that you aren’t doing enough or aren’t always equipped (or good enough) for The Army…

>>We ought to possess an identity that transcends The Salvation Army and is not completely chained to the Red, Yellow and Blue. Did you just gasp? Are you surprised by this? I hope not. God did not make us all unique and individuals in order for us to all dress the same, talk the same and become robots in uniform. Forgive me…that sounded harsh, and it really didn’t sound like that in my head. What I mean by that is this: Don’t let the Army be your only identity. I love The Salvation Army. I am a fourth generation Salvationists. I should bleed red, yellow and blue…but over the years I have come to the realization that I cannot be The Salvation Army every moment of every day because I will begin to lose who God has made me.

That sounded a little selfish, but it’s not. We ought to find the time to find ourselves once in a while. We do a disservice to God if we allow the work to consume us and in the process we lose our way as people of God. Even Jesus got away from things. He took time to commune with The Father in solitude.

Self-Care:
Self-care isn’t being lazy.
Self-care isn’t putting off responsibilities.
Self-care is about becoming re-connected with God.
Self-care is about finding your personal identity again.
Self-care is about tapping into that spiritual well that can and will replenish our tired, empty spirits.
We need to find ourselves again.
We cannot work ourselves to death.
We are God’s soldiers but what good is a tired, exhausted, spiritually dried out husk?

Truth #2
Do not give your identity away to anyone or anything.

God made you unique.
God didn’t make a mistake.
God alone owns your identity…not your job, your friends, or even the Army. God wants to use us through our unique identities.

There is accountability .
There is peer to peer guidance and mentors for the purpose of discipleship, maturity and holiness. God can and will use these means to produce in us a deeper sense of our identity as well, but beware…don’t give your identity away to anyone or anything other than The Lord.

The result of giving your unique identity away?
You begin to lose a piece of yourself.
You begin to hang your hopes on things that are temporal and fading.
You will find disappointment, discouragement and disillusionment.

Who are you?

You are first:
A Child of God…you are His!
You are His precious possession.
You are matter to Him.
You have an identity beyond just the Army…but you can use that identity to make changes, make a difference and to help heal the brokenness in this world and sometimes in our organization/mission.

A Word To The Wise:
Don’t allow the Army to be your only identity.
Take time for self-care.
Be willing to be teachable by trusted mentors, accountability partners and most importantly The Holy Spirit (who can and will use these people and others).
The safest place for your identity to reside is within the hands of God…not your rank, not your position, not your appointment, not even your family and friends. Yes ministry and our lives are holistic. Yes our identity is linked to this ministry that God has placed us in…but make sure you remember that your identity, your life, your heart belongs first to God and God alone and from there prayerfully invest yourself as good and faithful stewards.

Just something more for our Army and its Soldiers to ponder today.
To God be the glory!

We must be very diligent in our understanding of sin. Sin is not to be trifled with.
At the same time judgment is certainly not ours either. Although we are not ultimate judges over sin, we are called to live a life worthy of our calling. (Eph. 4:1)

I do not wish to sound ‘holier than thou’ in this article.  Please don’t take it that way.  These are struggles that I face and I know others do too.  

In the army we wage a daily battle on the front lines and we seek to help pull people up out of the raging waters of sin and death. As soldiers for God we must be alert and careful that while we pull souls from these depths that we do not get pulled back into those dangerous riptides ourselves. Sin and the temptation of sin still makes us vulnerable to falling away from the fellowship of God! This should make us more aware of the trappings of sin in our lives both as an individual soldier as well as a collective army.

That being said, I would like to explore 4 sins no one seems to be talking about much these days. I am sure someone out there will be eager to point out that they have been talking about these, but by and large these specific sins seem to go unspoken, unnoticed, or perhaps ignored…we can’t ignore these anymore.  Please also note that I am not pointing fingers here either, for to do so would also indite me and I would merely seek to cast light on these four topics as we prayerful and even personally address them in our own lives.

4 Sins No One Is Talking About:
1.  Complacency –

“We shall have no better conditions in the future if we are satisfied with all those which we have at present.”– Thomas Edison

Perhaps we’ve never looked at it this way before, but complacency can be a sin if it impedes us in the present and the future!  Is the mission of our army, not just internationally but most importantly locally, frustrated by complacency as we hang our laurels on what we have already accomplished?  Complacency has a way of producing tunnel vision that blinds us from present needs of souls at our doors and in our communities.  Forgive me for sounding calloused but we cannot expect the lost, poor, hurting and spiritually in need to simply come to our doors.  No!  We must go to them.  We must go to them with love, compassion, care and support.  We must go to them and employ present evangelical, relevant/relational tools.

Complacency can render us impotent in mission.  Complacency can, if we are not careful, lead to apathy in relation to others.  Complacency is a sin when it prevents us from fulfilling our calling to the Lord because we cannot train our eyes on the present when they are fixed on the past.

2. Exclusivity –

This is a very real sin that can enter our corps and offices in seemingly innocuous ways.  We find commonality with friends, family and others that we share common interests, but what happens when someone does not look like us?  What happens when someone has different view points or hobbies or even biblical understandings?  Do we ostracize them or do we include them regardless of many differences?

Being “exclusive” is the opposite of “inclusive”, it takes the form in our corps that separates “Us” from “Them” just because people do not look like us, or because they don’t talk like us, or even live like “we” think they should.

As an Army, we began as “the Christian Mission” in order to reach those who were not welcome in the church of the day.  In part, we began because exclusivity was a real issue in Victorian England…has exclusivity entered our Army today?  How do we combat this sin?  Yes, I believe it to be a sin because it can prevent others from joining our fellowship of believers on the basis of appearance, present lifestyle, or other things which are not like “us”.

We must be ever aware of the temptation of separation from “those” people.  Jesus died for the whosoever, not just the select few, the “holy” few, those that look like “us”…be careful dear soldier for this sin has a very slippery slope.

3. Coveting 

We understand what “coveting” is, but do we know that it can exist in our Army?  Soldiers can covet what other corps have that they do not.  Officers can covet appointments that seem better than where they are now.  We run the risk of spending so much time peering over the fence at what others have that we lose our way and our effectiveness in our present mission field.

Coveting can deprive us from appreciating what we do have in our corps and in our ministries. We can lose our gratefulness and appreciation to a Mighty God who provides for the faithful.  Coveting is a sin in our hearts and in our ministries if we allow it to take root and fester.  Be very aware so as to not fall into begrudging what we do not have and what others might possess.  Faithfulness to God and to His ministry here and now requires us to look away from what others have and are doing and refocus on what He has appointed us to do right here and right now!

4. Gluttony

“Gluttony is an emotional escape, a sign something is eating us.” -Peter De Vries
I might be scratching a personal itch that might hurt…sorry.  This is personal to me as well.  Why do so many Army events (at least in the Western world) focus on food, even to the point of fixation?  Another component to this is that the life of a soldier and officer can be stressful and can consume many hours of the day.  So following a long day we rush out to the closest fast-food establishment and pig out on the comfort foods that help us to drown our sorrows.  I am sorry if that hit a little too close to home…it did for me.

Many lives have been shortened because of this issue.  Dare I call it an often subconsciousness sin issue.  We eat our troubles away.  We eat the unhealthy foods because they are the quickest and most affordable to us.  We consume foods to make us happy when things are anything but happy.

I recognize that there are those who struggle with depression, eating disorders and other physical/psychological struggles that can lead to over-consumption.  We must be gracious and careful not to judge those who endure trials unknown to us.  Personally, I have struggled with this sin issue in my life (yes I call it a sin issue).  I don’t have some of the above physical/psychological issues but I have, at times, been a glutton.

two reasons gluttony is a sin in our army and should be address:
1) it can shorten the lifespan of soldiers and officers who over-indulge, and cause multiple health problems and issues which can be avoidable.

2) Our testimony and witness to others:  I am not saying that being overweight or indulging in some comfort food now and then can hurt your testimony, but long term evidence of gluttony can.  If we cannot abstain through controlled self-denial now and then how can we preach and teach about self-control and discipline to others?

Wrapping up these sins…
I understand some of these might be hot button topics, or perhaps a scab was just picked…sorry.  Again, it is not my place or anyone else’s place to judge.  I simply write this out of my own personal convictions and certain struggles I have faced while a soldier and officer in this army.  Dare I even add Gossip is another huge sin that we often talk about (pun intended) but seldom truly confront and uproot the problem.  There are other such struggles that we face as a body of believers and as individual soldiers.  We should be prudent, prayer and diligent in listening to the Lord and allowing the Holy Spirit to transform us one person at a time.

“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” 1 John 5:4

Something more for our army world to ponder today, to God be the glory!

We once attended a Pentecostal service.
 We do that from time to time when on vacation, visit churches from various denominations that is.  
We stopped at this particular church because of the appearance…it looked nice and well maintained.  
I noted that its parking lot was nearly full as we made our way to the front doors.  You know the old saying about going to the restaurants that have lots of traffic?  Well…sometimes this applies to churches as well, at least on the surface of “appearances”.    
We were greeted by members of the church who seemed delighted that we had chosen to worship with them on that particular day as they placed a worship bulletin in our hands and showed us to a seat towards the back of the sanctuary.  Everything seemed warm and welcoming…until the barking started that is. 
I am not joking – barking.  No it wasn’t some sort of “bring your pet to church day” or anything like that, but rather an extreme form of “tongues” that certain Pentecostal churches endorse in worship.  Members began barking and making all sorts of interesting sounds as they waved their hands, some rolled on the floor while others danced down the isles and around the chapel.  We were absolutely wide-eyed and shocked, completely out of our element.
 We didn’t know what to do.  We felt trapped in a strange circus and we couldn’t find the exit fast enough.

 I am certainly not negating that use of tongues (which is scriptural) as a mode for conveying the gospel and for a translator to be present.  And I am certainly not negating the use of emotionalism in worship either.  Emotionalism, to a degree, is relevant, but in this one instance…wow…just wow.   

Does emotionalism play a part in worship?  
Of course.  
Within this topic there should also be an understanding that cultural styles of worship differ from place to place.  
Some cultures might be more emotional than others when it comes to worship.  For example in many parts of Africa worshipers will dance down the aisles to the offering plates because the “time of offering” is a time of celebration.  This is cultural and is a very beautiful thing to witness.   Given the cultural differences that we find around the globe in our global army, it can be difficult to separate extreme emotionalism from cultural practice in worship.  

Worship is more
Worship is so much more than what takes place on Sunday in Worship services like Holiness Meetings and Salvation Meetings.  But as a corporate body of believers, we gather together for these important times to sing songs of praise, share in scripture, share in testimonies, other worship elements and a message/sermon.  

But…
Q: Can emotionalism become a distract in worship?  
A: Yes!  
Although feelings and emotions are important within our personal worship and even corporate worship, it can become a distraction to other believers who are gathered there to worship in the services we attend.  We should consider the reverence of God within these sacred moments of worship as well as how we react to one another while in these sacred spaces.  

The Holy Spirit

We must, at the same time, be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading as well.  Please don’t misunderstand what is written here. I am not decrying the use of emotion in worship but we should be mindful of other worshipers as well as be in tune to the Holy Spirit in such corporate settings.  He (the Holy Spirit) can prompt us to go to the penitent form out of conviction and reconciliation.  He might even prompt us to go to another member within our corporate body to pray with us or for us to seek mending of a broken relationship.  We would be wise to listen to His leading in our lives at these important moments.  

That being said, emotionalism does play a part in our worship, but be careful that we are not solely led by our emotions. 
We also have other physical/mental components to rely on within these modes of worship:  Intellect, prudence, and even silence.  

Adversely…
Are there places in our army where emotion is lacking?  
Are there worship settings that have become too mechanical, staunch and stoic?  
Perhaps some worship services could use a shot of emotion…

Worship is vital!
Worship in church is crucial to our spiritual maturity and corporate edification.  We need koinonia (Christian fellowship) as we sing praises, share in testimonies and hear the word of God expounded upon in the form of sermons.  Just be mindful that there can be more to worship than pure emotionalism.  It can play its part, but it should not be our only constant, primary sense utilized 100% of the time in the corporate setting.

Questions to Ponder:
What is your typical worship service like at your corps?
How does emotionalism play into the service? 
Is there an abundance of emotion or a vacancy of emotion?  
Are we (you) sensitive to the Holy Spirit when He falls upon us? (yes this is both personal and sometime corporate)

-Just something more for our army world to ponder today.  

Children file one by one
heads slumped
the look of defeat on their faces,
backpacks slung precariously over their shoulders
weighed down heavily as they take that first, 
languishing step onto the school bus.
It is yellow with black stripes 
resembling the bumbles bees in the garden
as they stopped to visit flower after flower.

Taking a vinyl seat, browned and cracked…
duct-tape joined where fabric gave way to 
endless stabbings of pencils and house keys

and blue ‘bic’ pens which tattooed names
and not so nice words just beyond the prying
eyes of the bus driver.  

Taking the seat closest to the back 
right over the wheel well…(great! less room)
the view from the prison window which only 
fell halfway, dampening the sticky air
with smells of diesel exhaust, 
You look out…discontent,
a little sad and crestfallen
where had the Summer gone?  
In a blink.  
Faster than the promise of this next
long winter…she was gone.  

Parents, standing at the bus stop 
cameras in hand, smiling and eagerly
wave their hands to show support
while others throw a few ‘thumbs-up’ our way.
But we don’t see them through this din.
We, the children of the summer…
we only see her wave one last time 
as a sliver of sun light touches our seats
warming us one last time…it stretches out over us
bathing us once more
as if in farewell…
the light leans in close for a final hug
touching shoulders and backpacks
and on our skin,
as our eyes wet our cheeks.
She waves goodbye…until next time.  
S E. Strissel 9/1/14

Warning, some spoiler alerts may be revealed in this blog entry!  

I am a big fan of Marvel movies, who, in the past have released such blockbusters like The Avengers, Thor 1 & 2, Ironman 1,2,3, Captain America and so on.  I wasn’t much of a comic book reader growing up so I didn’t know the ins and outs of the “Marvel universe”.  That being said, we went recently to see “Guardians of the Galaxy” in theaters because it came highly recommended, and we were not disappointed!  This action packed Marvel film takes place in a distant galaxy where many aliens coexist.  The main character, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is a human who, at the beginning of the film,  was at the deathbed of his mother.  His heart is broken and he carries with him a mixed tape that his mother made for him.  Long story short, he was abducted “from Earth at a young age“..he is now an “interstellar adventurer“, opportunist and currently a wanted criminal.  (IMBD Bio) 

It is a long, humor filled story as to how this ragtag team is assembled known as the “guardians of the galaxy” and they must face numerous challenges, especially internally among the group with struggles such as revenge, insecurity, greed, trust and arrogance.  These unlikely characters must work together to defeat a common enemy by the name of “Ronan 

the Accuser” of Kree and his villainous backer and destroyer of worlds – Thanos.  

Peter retrieves an ancient artifact only to discover it contains great power and is currently also being sought out by Ronan the Accuser and his thugs.   The humor in this film makes it fun to watch coupled with the numerous action sequences.  I especially enjoyed the characters that make up the Guardians, especially two in particular by the name of Rocket and Groot.  

Rocket is a Raccoon like intelligent creature who was experimented on.  He struggles with insecurities of who is, yet is extremely cunning and intelligent.  He is the orchestrator of plans and the builder of unique and dangerous weapons.  His partner and “muscle” (Groot) is a tree-like creature who can extend his limbs to fight and to defend.  He can only utter three words “I Am Groot”…which the other team members interpret into rather humorous responses during the film.

3 Poignant Lessons:
1. Leadership – Although this movie is an action-packed film about super-heroes and villains it certainly does not start out that way.  Quill is an opportunist just out to make some money.  His character seems very selfish and ego driven…though he carries with him the scars of his mother’s death in the form of his tape player and her mixed tape that she made for him.  You want to cheer for him and he is a spectacular example of an imperfect hero with many flaws.   Putting these flaws aside Quill becomes a fearless leader of the Guardians as they seek to save mankind from Ronan and ultimately Thanos.  

2. Revenge never pays – Drax is the muscle bound, red tatooed, revenge seeking Guardian.  He signs on with the team in order to kill Ronan who slaughtered his family.  Drax doesn’t really care about the others at first and only seeks to fill his blood lust by any means possible without consequences or how it will impact those around him.  He learns some lesson the hard way in this film and becomes a true friend to the other team members within the Guardians.  

3.  Unity, Love & Sacrifice  – Groot, at one point saves the entire team from destruction by sacrificing his own life.  The ship is crashing to earth and he unfurles his limbs to become a sphere of protection around the other Guardians.  In doing so Rocket yells at Groot with tears in his eyes and says “don’t do it Groot, you will die!” at which point Groot declares boldly “We are Groot” and then proceeds to save them all from death by sacrificing himself.  To me this was startling, yet poignant lesson of team work, love and sacrifice that should speak to our hearts.  I saw almost a Christ-like sacrifice that Groot displayed for others as he was willing to lay down his life to save the team.  

My recommendation:
Go see “The Guardians of the Galaxy”.  The Guardians are imperfect, far from spectacular and yet display the best of humanity in their team work, love and ultimately willingness to sacrifice themselves to save others.  In my opinion, it is the must see movie of a quickly fading summer! 

Just something more to ponder here at pastorsponderings.org

Is It More Than A Paycheck?

The mission of The Salvation Army requires more than just employees.  Don’t misunderstand me, we need workers who can perform vital tasks within our army but my fear is that we are creating professional places of employment and no longer cultivating warriors who are mission minded.  Is it wrong to draw a salary from our army?  Of course not!  Though there is the danger of hiring personnel based solely on their skill set.  Skill sets are wonderful and we should utilize these abilities in our army but what happens if we only hire individuals based solely on their ability to perform these tasks while they have no love or passion for our mission?  

Making it personal:

I remember the days when I used to punch a clock while being employed by the Army.  I must confess that I too viewed my position as a place of employment and not where my heart met a godly mission and purpose.  It happens more than we think.  Dare I say that we (the army) sometimes employ families  who merely “go into the family business” and perhaps it is more out of convenience than it is about passion.  I do not begrudge this.  For years I had to sort this out in my own life as well.  I am a fourth generation salvationist and a fourth generation officer…did that mean that I signed up out of “convenience”?  Thankfully the answer in my case is “no”.  I could have found a more lucrative, gainful employment somewhere else following college graduation.  I could have done other things, but I felt a call to minister within our army.  Was it a lifetime call?  Perhaps that’s a conversation for another time…but I have been called here and now to be more than just an employee of The Salvation Army.  If there comes a day when I am simply here for the paycheck and the benefits and have no love for our mission then it is time for me to pack it in and move on.  God forbid if we have only employees in our army!  Employees only fulfilling their job descriptions and nothing more.  Employees who are not mission bound but paycheck and position bound.  Employees who hardly ever (if at all) actively engage in Kingdom building within our army.  

I quit being an employee of our army years ago.  I didn’t sign up to draw a paycheck or sit in a nice office with a window view. There has to be something more than this.  There needs to be heart and passion and mission that coincide with our spirits and prompts us to fight for souls of men and women for the glory of God!  If this last element is missing (for the glory of God) we could lose everything within our army.  If we do not keep our mission ever in focus…if we do not continue to fight for the souls of men and women…if we do not actively engage in our corps, divisional offices and territorial offices for His glory, we will have lost everything and just become “employees” in just another social service organization.  God forbid that ever happens.  Don’t be employees…be mission workers, be passionate soldiers of Christ, be compassionate dispensers of God’s grace, be warriors of God…don’t just be employees of The Salvation Army.  

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

Questions:
Do we as an army for God work within the mainframe of grace and reconciliation?  How do we bring back into the fold those who have broken rank and have gone AWOL?  

Braking Ranks:

There are many reasons that officers and soldiers brake rank and depart.  Some leave for other opportunities that, I believe, the Lord makes available for them.  Some burn out and because of frustrations they leave our ranks in search of rest that perhaps wasn’t offered where they were stationed.  Others leave for moral or ethical reasons.  All of these reasons are sad to our army.  We need soldiers and officers of this army who will fight despite the circumstances, but we also need leaders in our army who are sensitive to the Holy Spirit and will lovingly employ pastoral care upon those who are truly hurting and struggling.  

Pastoral Care:

It is not enough to have a small handful of officers at territorial headquarters to minister to the vast ministries of hundreds of officers on the field.  Nor is it enough to claim places like officer’s councils (twice a year) and pilgrimage (for soldiery) enough of a healing balm to weary souls.  These are wonderful elements of pastoral care, but they are not enough.  Sometimes, dare I say, these are merely used as stop-gaps yet underlying hurts and true shepherding is forgotten along the way.  This is usually unintentional because many leaders are “too busy” due to over worked schedules.  If I can be honest for a moment though, we need something more than what is already available to officers and soldiers in regards to pastoral care.  We need to spend more money if needed.  We need to employ more officers and staff within the realms of pastoral care.  If our army is serious about caring for those within its ranks, please take this seriously.  I am not negating the effectiveness of the few who are already within this area of ministry (pastoral care departments – if there is one in your territory), but there are far too few in number.  

Secondly, it is not enough to employ/outsourced psychologists to conduct tests on those who are hurting to see if they are “fit for duty”.  These services are excellent when one is seeking professional counseling (which is at times necessary) and we are grateful for these helps, but who does the shepherd turn to when they need someone to talk to and perhaps an ear to listen without fear of repercussions or divulging of information shared.  It is not that we mistrust leadership but shepherds are there to guide and to lead but if the leader is hurting or burned out perhaps don’t just move them or appoint them to a place with less stress – here is a novel concept – Talk to them and listen to their needs.   I don’t mean to be critical here today but pastoral ministry should not be a last resort or a responsive action, it should be a first priority and a proactive ministry to its ranks.  I believe far too long we have operated within a reactionary place which is more of a knee-jerk response instead of an intentional, loving concern for those who serve.  

Leadership: please don’t misunderstand what I am saying.  I am not implying you do not love those you lead, but I am saying there is room to improve must be room to improve!  Lip service can take the form of “I hear what you’re saying” yet no action is ever taken to adjust, modify, restructure the foundation because it can and will upset the status quo right now.  

What do I know…I’m only a Captain in this very large ship that is The Salvation Army…but from where I stand, sometimes officers and soldiers are just numbers instead of people.  The reaction to a dip in statistics becomes “Officers what’s going on in your corps?  Why are the stats down?” or “Women’s ministries secretary, why are there less women in your women’s ministries group?  Why are the stats down?”    Sometimes we minister through the famine days as well as the seasons of feasts.  We must recognize that people are people and we ought to love and serve them with our full efforts and compassion through ministry of the Holy Spirit.  

Pastoral Care Recommendation:
(Again, what do I know but here’s a suggestion, which is more than just criticism but I hope and pray a construction suggestion because I want to succeed in ministry and I know we all do too)
Here are Three Recommendations to truly allow pastoral care to become proactive and more effective:

1) Employ Divisional Pastoral Care Teams (not just Territorial ones):
This isn’t about micromanaging officers or corps, but rather caring leaders determined to improve the mission through healthy, shepherding and love.  Pastoral teams who will spend time with officers not because it’s in the calender or because its mandated but because they want to fellowship with other officers and show support and concern.  Please don’t get me wrong, I am not saying Divisional Officers don’t love those they serve currently, because that is not the case, but if we had a team of pastoral care officers devoted to the concerns and needs of shepherding officers on the field I believe we would see not only a higher morale but more effective ministries going on.  Officers and soldiers need to feel needed and loved.  They need to know they have support no matter how near or far their appointments are for their headquarters.  A Divisional Pastoral Care Team would be immediate, confidential, and provide an additional resource to not only officers and soldiers on the field but to divisional leaders.  

2) A Sabbatical Provision For Officers:
Currently if an Officer told their leadership that they would like to take a sabbatical from their appointment they would be met with questions like “Are you resigning?  Are you questioning your call as an Officer? Are you dealing with sin?”  The thought of providing something other than furlough to Officers who need triage to their spirits seems almost alien to our army world.  I don’t wish to peer over the proverbial fence here but there are many churches who employ the use of a sabbatical so that their pastors can recharge, reconnect with their spouses, find rest and rediscover their heart for ministry.  What damage would it do to consider such a provision?  Could we prevent some of the losses within our ranks if this were in place?  Perhaps even a territorial sabbatical place of rest could be assigned…more to ponder…

3) Team Leadership Appointments:

I recognize not all personalities can work together in ministry, but wouldn’t it be more effective to have numerous couples working in the same appointment?  I know that immediately some would consider the cost of such a venture, but what would the return on this kind of investment be?  Currently already within the USA in the Kroc Centers teams of Officers already work together, but what about within the standard corps setting?  Wouldn’t we be more equipped within a carefully structured partnership team?  I don’t mean a Corps Officer and an Assistant or an Associate Officer but I mean co-leaders, co-ministers together.  Perhaps in this way the burden can be jointly carried and also fellowship and healthy accountability can take place.  This type of model would not be easy to maintain and constant retooling would have to happen, but if the goal within mission was kept as the priority and everyone could extinguish egos, perhaps this type of team ministry could work.  

Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing:

The mission of our Army should always, ever be at the forefront of what and who we are.
Secondly though, we must  be proactive in caring for our ranks of officers and soldiers.  We need the able body, the healthy body of Christ in order to meet human needs in His name!  We need each other to prevent attrition in our ranks.  We need to know leadership truly cares for those they lead.  We need more servant leaders to assist in this modification to make our mission more effective.  With healthy pastoral care tools in place, more than we have now, we can help some (not all) of the issues we are currently facing when we consider the “breaking of ranks”.  

“If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” 1 John 3:17

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9

Just something more for our Army to ponder today!