Vox populi #1

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eightened concern over people’s safety in downtown Winnipeg (Canada) this week necessitated the increase of security in many post-secondary institutions when a threatening message was posted in a university bathroom stall. Given time, the pundits will have a heyday with that one. Back to my point. As I have occasion to see the security personnel, I am left to wonder, “Earning $8/hr, is this person willing to take a bullet for my sake?” So I’m wondering… what is this security personnel’s level of commitment that makes him right for this task? Funny, it’s a similar question we pose when we ask people to work in our corps.

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Questions

Areopagus #28

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he question mark - the most potent symbol in the language: it indictes an implied curiousity, it shows you want to know more, it demonstrates a lively interest. Is a faith without questions worth having? Find out in this January 2007 talk by John Evans at the last ACC in Melbourne, Australia. To listen to this 21:36 presentation, click on the arrow below or click on the question mark image to visit the Areopagus podcast on iTunes, where this talk can be downloaded.

John Evans is the pharmacy manager at Epworth Eastern Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. With his wife, Lynda, John served for 13 years as a Salvation Army officer. His appointments included roles as a corps officer and editor of the War Cry and Onfire magazines. With a penchant for long distance triathlons, John is aiming to complete Ironman Australia in April 2008.

Deeper shade of grey | 1

Tired of provoking the wrong people

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’ve just opened my email box to a ‘blanket’ barrage of Booth and Railton proof quotes, underpinning a message of ‘encouragement’ to do more. Links to sites to encourage me to ‘really’ understand the Great Commission, to truly know what it is to evangelise, telling me how inept I have been, how misguided, how I have compromised the gospel and my calling. Although bereft of context, to try and gain what the author intended, I’ve given the opinion respect and read the email. I feel great having started the day dosed up with some good ol’ ‘black and white’ uncompromising judgement and opinion.

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The Problem of Holiness

by Grant Sandercock-Brown

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ince General Coutts wisely and gently steered us away from our “second blessing” theology, Salvationists have not spoken with one voice on holiness. Some think Coutts was wrong; some said “OK, but what now?”; many had lost interest in the whole issue. Unfortunately, we didn’t (or couldn’t) replace our simple second blessing theology with a new, personal, one-sentence definition. Maybe what we miss most is not our second blessing theology but its simplicity and clarity. What we can say is that we threw the baby out with the bath water and have been bemusedly holding an empty tub for rather a long time.

That doesn’t mean that republishing Brengle is the answer to our holiness confusion. Surely we should be able to articulate a fresh understanding on this, to speak to our times in a biblically authentic way about holiness.

And not as a sect with some sort of triumphalist world view. What we have to say about holiness applies the whole church. Surely the body of Christ should all understand holiness the same way. That is, we believe that “the privilege of all believers” means all believers everywhere - not just those in the Army.

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Ragamuffin: The Uni…

…uniform, uniformity, unity

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enerally, I don’t mind The Salvation Army uniform. But the dress uniform gets in the way when I am unloading food, putting out kettles, cleaning the corps, helping in disaster situations, trying to reach certain segments of society or cultures. I think it is time for some battle wear. Maybe an approved battle fatigue uniform would be in order. Maybe it is time for an approved casual comfortable uniform for daily battle. In our territory they follow pretty close to the O&R. Other areas of the SA world seem to have more flexibility. What gives here?

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Crossing the rubicon…

… into the blogosphere

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omeone once conjectured that if every bon mot, aphorism, witticism and word of wisdom attributed to Winston Churchill had actually been said by Winston Churchill, then he would have needed to live at least twice as long as he did and spoken non-stop for most of his waking hours. Something similar can be said of William and Catherine Booth, the founders of The Salvation Army. In Salvationist circles they tend to be quoted extensively (at times in support of some rather dodgy practices, it needs to be said) with some of their more well-known sayings accorded almost the same reverence as Scripture. Almost. There is little doubt that much of what they are purported to have said is apocryphal. However, one quite famous assertion that can be verified as having issued from the very lips of Catherine was: “It is necessary to disturb the present in order to improve the future.”

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Solitude & Sin… Yet again

Three poems by Adely Thélus Charles

SIN?

Like a villain it stalks us day & night;
Seducing everything in its sight.
Diggin’ our grave it its mission,
For it will find no better satisfaction.

A sinful life resulting in eternity in Hell,
Shouldn’t be our destiny.
For God didn’t put us under a spell,
Knowing that His promise is life eternally.

Salvation is free to those who are lost,
For Jesus Christ definitely paid the cost.
Oh! What a day that will be,
When the Son of man comes and sets us free.

September 1st, 2000

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Feeling Persecuted

Graeme Smith with a culturally subversive message

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ver the last couple of years I have noticed a growing tendency amongst Christians in the western world to lament the loss of rights that have existed for centuries. They see the loss of moral teaching, as it has been upheld by the Church for centuries, as a personal attack on the Christian faith.

The reality is that for many centuries the Church in the western world has walked the paths of power and has been an integral part of holding society together. Yet with this influential position came first a relaxation of prophetic zeal, and then a watering down of what the path of discipleship is really about. What was born as an essentially subversive, life changing movement became a controlling and stifling force of societal control.

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The Rolls-Royce Gospel

Rob Perry: Is prosperity gospel is creeping into our thinking?

The Lord is my banker; my credit is good. He maketh me to lie down in the consciousness of omnipresent abundance; he giveth me the key to his strongbox; he restoreth my faith in his riches; he guideth me in the paths of prosperity for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk in the very shadow of debt, I shall fear no evil, for thou art with me; they silver and thy gold, they secure me. Thou preparest a way for me in the presence of the collector; thou fillest my wallet with plenty; my measure runneth over. Surely goodness and plenty will follow me all the days of my life, and I shall do business in the name of the Lord forever. Charles Fillmore’s rendition of Psalm 23

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enneth E. Hagin is usually credited with originating the prosperity gospel (variously called the “health and wealth” gospel, the “abundant life” gospel or the “name it and claim it” gospel). In the 1960s, Hagin was a well-known preacher, the founder of many ministries and the writer of such books as How God Taught Me about Prosperity and Biblical Keys to Financial Prosperity. Today, many of our most famous (or infamous) Christian celebrities are actually members of the prosperity fraternity. Examples include Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn and David Yongi Cho. These preachers, along with a legion of televangelists, promise financial prosperity if only we have enough faith.

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Money and Possessions

Amy Reardon: Jesus asked us to even the score, not deepen the disparity

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hen I was a child, I attended a Good News Club at my school once a week. The teachers developed a reward system that encouraged the kind of behaviour they wanted the children to exhibit. Anyone who sat very quietly, memorized a verse or brought a friend to the club earned a “Good News Buck.” We wanted to accrue as many bucks as possible, because once a month they could be used to purchase small toys or candy. Children respond well to such a reward system because they understand the basic principle: if you are good, you get stuff.

Adult Christians often have a more pious way of expressing that same expectation for themselves: If I live a good Christian life, God will bless me.

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