- Michael Synder in Prophesy News Watch -
There is very little that the entire world seems to agree upon, but there is one very frightening trend that is now taking hold literally all over the globe.
A passionate hatred of Christianity is sweeping across the planet, and very few global leaders have been willing to step forward and speak out against this rising persecution of Christians. In many parts of the Middle East, Africa and Asia, believers are being relentlessly attacked by extremists, churches are being destroyed, and laws are being passed to try to prevent the spread of the Christian faith.
In some areas, the violence has become so extreme that Christians knowingly risk their own lives just to go to church services each week. Would you risk your life to go to church? In North America and Europe, the persecution is often more subtle. Even though violent attacks are still fairly rare, Christian beliefs are being undermined by new laws, comedians and television shows regularly mock the Christian faith, and many employers will immediately mentally disqualify a potential candidate for a job if they discover that an individual is a Bible-believing Christian.
Read more HERE.
Daily devotions
Wednesday
It´s Thursday - word from Genesis Number 33 by Howard Webber
'The chief cupbearer,
however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him,' Genesis 40:23.
Joseph was in the
prison set aside for Pharaoh's prisoners,(39:20), and because the captain of the
guard trusted him, he made Joseph responsible for the care of a number of
prisoners including Pharaoh's chief cupbearer and chief baker, (40:4).
Despite the injustice
of his own situation, Joseph seems to have been more concerned with the welfare
of his fellow prisoners, even though they probably deserved to be there. Does
that not remind us of our dying Saviour on the cross? One morning Joseph
noticed the change in the faces of the baker and cupbearer, and I ask myself do
I always look into the faces of the people I meet and even notice their sadness
and/or dejection?
'Why are your faces
so sad today?' Again, I'm challenged. If I look into their eyes and detect
their sorrow or anxiety, am I always eager to know the reason why? Or am I more
concerned that to enquire might result in a problem for me or might mess up my
well planned, well ordered day? However, Joseph was full of compassion, and
asked what was troubling them. When told of their troubling dreams, he wanted
to do something to help. Although aware that he himself might not know the
answers, he believed in a God who did, (v 8b).
For the cupbearer
God's revelation through Joseph was good news, but for the baker it could not
have been worse. Again I am challenged. Am I always ready to tell someone I
care for what they need to hear, even when it is unpalatable or unpleasant? The
truth can hurt, however sensitively we might share it. But the positive thing
for the baker in being told he was going to be executed in three days, was that
he had time to put some things right, to remind his love ones of his love for
them and prepare himself for his departure from this life.
Sadly, having helped
the cupbearer in his hour of need, when the cupbearer returned to his elevated
position and all was again going well for him, he forgot Joseph and what he had
done for him. Have you ever been there for someone in crisis, maybe at great
sacrifice to yourself, giving time, money and much else, only to be forgotten
completely when their crisis has passed. You feel used, abused even...what
then? 'Lord help me to give and not to count the cost, even when seemingly I'm
treated with contempt. Lord, fill me with that Spirit that filled Jesus, that I
might exemplify him and not be controlled by the me in me. Amen.' God bless you
all.
Tuesday
The Incredible Blessings of Being in Christ!
Christians today live in a time of great light. The Holy Ghost has revealed to us the powerful meaning of Jesus' work on the cross, and the incredible blessings this means for our lives.
Yet there was a time when Christ's wonderful work was obscured from the world. That period was known as the Dark Ages - simply because the meaning of the cross was veiled from the eyes of humanity.
Most sermons during that time focused on God's wrath and on damnation. The popes and priests preached a gospel of works - and the people performed a variety of acts to try to find peace with God. They traveled for miles to shrines, knelt in worship before stone icons, repeated long prayers, fondled prayer beads. Yet all these things only increased their bondage and brought deeper darkness to their souls.
People then knew nothing of the benefits and blessings available through Christ's victory at Calvary. Yet even today, with all the teaching available on the subject, the majority of Christians still do not understand many important aspects of Christ's work for us. I would like to talk about one of those aspects in this message - and that is, what it means to be "in Christ."
Read more HERE.
Sunday
Obama Ignores Pastors: Gay Rights on Kenya Agenda
"Despite requests from African leaders to leave his views on homosexuality at home, President Barack Obama says he plans to make gay rights part of his agenda during his trip to Africa.
Obama faced criticism and growing calls from LGBT groups to press the issue aggressively while in the region.
Meanwhile in a letter, a number of Kenyan politicians and religious leaders have warned the U.S. president that any overtures on gay rights would not be welcomed in Kenya.
"We do not want him to come and talk on homosexuality in Kenya or push us to accepting that which is against our faith and culture," said Mark Kariuki, the key architect of the letter."
Read more HERE.
Is Plotting To Use Drones To Bomb Crowds At Major British Events
Terrorists want to use the unmanned machines - available for as little as £100 on the high street - to drop explosives on large crowds at popular sporting and cultural gatherings.
Defence chiefs fear they could launch a multi-drone attack carrying several bombs, even using airborne cameras to film the bloody carnage below for twisted propaganda videos.
Senior MI5 figures believed that Isis has already tested how much plastic explosive the flying machines can carry, getting as far as experimenting with detonation devices.
Read more HERE.
Friday
Syrian Christians Flee Asylum in Sweden Amid Harassment From Muslims Who Force Them to Hide Their Crosses
- Christian Post -
Syrian Christian refugees living in Sweden say they were forced out of their asylum house by Muslim refugees who demanded they hide their crosses and banned them from using communal areas in the home they shared.
"They dared not stay. The atmosphere became too intimidating. And they got no help," said a Swedish government migration agency rep responsible for the center they were staying in to Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter. "They chose themselves to organize [a] new address and moved away without our participation because they felt a discomfort."
The Christians, comprised of two families, were seeking asylum after fleeing from the Islamic State in Syria. And the place they were staying at housed around 80 people with many being Syrian Muslims.
Read more HERE.
"They dared not stay. The atmosphere became too intimidating. And they got no help," said a Swedish government migration agency rep responsible for the center they were staying in to Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter. "They chose themselves to organize [a] new address and moved away without our participation because they felt a discomfort."
The Christians, comprised of two families, were seeking asylum after fleeing from the Islamic State in Syria. And the place they were staying at housed around 80 people with many being Syrian Muslims.
Read more HERE.
Thursday
Forward from Conversion: How We Can Focus on Spiritual Growth and Transformation
Making converts is essential, but the job isn't finished until those converts are discipled.
One of the most exciting moments within the life of a church is when someone comes to know Jesus Christ as Savior. We celebrate having new believers in our churches, but are we leading them to become lifelong disciples of Jesus?
Are we helping them continue through the transformation process or are we leaving them in convert mode?
We have become masters at getting “decisions.” Conversion is a powerful event in the life of the believer. It is a great moment. But it isn’t the end of the game. Converting those decisions into disciples must be part of the church's purpose.
Sometimes we put such an emphasis on that moment, we make people think that is all we are after. The not-so-funny joke is that some people are willing to receive Christ just so the pastor will leave them alone. Our goal is often for conversions. But God’s goal is for transformation, which really just begins at conversion.
Read more HERE.
Wednesday
"But the Lord was with Joseph" - It´s Thursday (32)
'But while Joseph was
there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted
him favour in the eyes of the prison warder,' Genesis 39:20b, 21.
Having experienced
the possibility of being murdered by his own brothers, then being saved by his
big brother Reuben, only to then be sold into slavery, things did not turn out
as bad as he may have expected when Joseph got to Egypt. Joseph was sold to
Potiphar, a good master who treated him with respect and trusted him. But it
didn't last when suddenly, condemned for something he hadn't done, he found
himself in prison.
But in it all we read
that the Lord was with Joseph, vs 2,21, 23. Life at times can seem like a
roller coaster ride with no rhyme or reason for the things we are forced to
experience. We can so easily become bitter and question God's providential
care. But the important point that we can so easily forget is that when we
accept Christ and commit our lives to God, what we are actually doing is saying,
'God, I no longer own my life. I am here to fulfil your purposes. I have no
ambitions of my own any more and am willing for you to do with me whatsoever
you desire to achieve your purposes. Whether that entails pleasant or
unpleasant experiences, I will trust you. Amen.
That does seem to
have been Joseph's attitude. Consequently, the prison warden discovered in
Joseph someone very different to the prisoners he normally encountered. May
those who we encounter this week sense a difference in us; a faith and
consistency that defies those negative experiences that come our way or bad
situations we find ourselves in. May they realise that the Lord is with us and
desire to know him for themselves. God bless you all.
Who Told You You Are Unworthy?
by David Wilkerson - April 7, 1997
We all know where this voice comes from: It is the devil himself! He's the one who keeps you convinced God is angry with you. You hear his lies all day long - and they come straight from the pits of hell!
Who tells choir members they're not worthy to sing praises in God's house? Who tells musicians they're not worthy to play instruments of worship? Who tells elders, ushers, Sunday school teachers, volunteers, people in ministry, people in their pews they are unworthy? Who reminds them of every sin and failure, accusing them: "You have unclean hands, an impure heart! You have no right to touch the holy things of God. You are a disgrace to the Lord!"
That is the hounding voice of the devil - the accuser of the brethren! He tells you, "God can't use you until you sit down and get this thing figured out. You can't even come into his house until you've made yourself worthy!"
Read more HERE.
Monday
Nuke Deal Could Allow U.S. To Protect Iran From Israel
- Allan J. Favish in Prophesy News Watch -
"Ari Yashar of Israelnationalnews.com reports that the Iran nuclear agreement negotiated by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry requires the United States and the other non-Iranian signatories to provide “co-operation through training and workshops to strengthen Iran’s ability to protect against, and respond to nuclear security threats, including sabotage.”
If Israel is about to take military action against Iran’s nuclear weapons infrastructure and related targets, will the Obama administration use this language in the agreement to claim that the United States is required to warn Iran of the impending attack and provide Iran with sufficient information to thwart it?
Yashar reports:
One particularly interesting detail: Tucked away near the very end of the deal’s massive text is a section entitled “Nuclear Safety, Safeguards and Security,” which stipulates that the West will train Iran to thwart sabotage against its nuclear facilities.
According to text, Iran will learn how to secure its controversial and covert nuclear program from all threats thanks to training by the “E3/EU+3,” another designation for the P5+1 countries consisting of the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China, as well as the EU.
The section seemingly begins benignly enough, with a clause saying that “E3/EU+3 parties, and possibly other states, as appropriate, are prepared to cooperate with Iran to establish a Nuclear Safety Centre in Iran, engage in workshops and training events in Iran.”
But then things take a turn, with the same world powers obligating to “co-operation in the form of training courses and workshops to strengthen Iran’s ability to prevent, protect and respond to nuclear security threats to nuclear facilities and systems as well as to enable effective and sustainable nuclear security and physical protection systems.”
Leaving no doubts about the intentions, the text then promises “co-operation through training and workshops to strengthen Iran’s ability to protect against, and respond to nuclear security threats, including sabotage.”
Read more HERE.
"Ari Yashar of Israelnationalnews.com reports that the Iran nuclear agreement negotiated by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry requires the United States and the other non-Iranian signatories to provide “co-operation through training and workshops to strengthen Iran’s ability to protect against, and respond to nuclear security threats, including sabotage.”
If Israel is about to take military action against Iran’s nuclear weapons infrastructure and related targets, will the Obama administration use this language in the agreement to claim that the United States is required to warn Iran of the impending attack and provide Iran with sufficient information to thwart it?
Yashar reports:
One particularly interesting detail: Tucked away near the very end of the deal’s massive text is a section entitled “Nuclear Safety, Safeguards and Security,” which stipulates that the West will train Iran to thwart sabotage against its nuclear facilities.
According to text, Iran will learn how to secure its controversial and covert nuclear program from all threats thanks to training by the “E3/EU+3,” another designation for the P5+1 countries consisting of the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China, as well as the EU.
The section seemingly begins benignly enough, with a clause saying that “E3/EU+3 parties, and possibly other states, as appropriate, are prepared to cooperate with Iran to establish a Nuclear Safety Centre in Iran, engage in workshops and training events in Iran.”
But then things take a turn, with the same world powers obligating to “co-operation in the form of training courses and workshops to strengthen Iran’s ability to prevent, protect and respond to nuclear security threats to nuclear facilities and systems as well as to enable effective and sustainable nuclear security and physical protection systems.”
Leaving no doubts about the intentions, the text then promises “co-operation through training and workshops to strengthen Iran’s ability to protect against, and respond to nuclear security threats, including sabotage.”
Read more HERE.
Sunday
WELCOME TO THE ONE ARMY TEACHING PROGRAMME
Welcome to One Army – our unique international teaching resource! Devised to explain the nature and purposes of ‘the Army’, One Army brings together Salvationists and friends the world over.
For those who want to know more about The Salvation Army, this is the most up-to-date, informative and concise guide available. For Salvationists who want to confirm their own faith and mission, this is as reliable and authentic guide you will find anywhere. For those who want to broaden their horizons, support and encourage others around the world and learn about other cultures, this will achieve all those aims.
Read more HERE.
Darling, I've found my destiny.’” Part Two - Conclusion
Mark A. Kellner, is a journalist living in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is
currently a national reporter for the Deseret news, and has written
about issues of faith and freedom since 1983. (From FSAOF.blogspot.com)
Kroc 'supersizes' Army
As The Salvation Army celebrates 150 years of operation, its American unit appears financially in excellent shape. Forbes magazine last year ranked the group No. 2 on its list of the country's largest charities.
The Salvation Army, Forbes said, receives annual donations of just over $2 billion, and about $2.3 billion in grants and government funding. Forbes ranked the group at 90 percent for "fundraising efficiency," which it defined as "the percentage of private donations left after subtracting the costs of getting them."
Management guru Peter Drucker once said without any qualifiers, that The Salvation Army was "the most effective organization in the United States."
But the efficiency of the Army's fundraising and administration isn't limited to its American operations, current international leader General André Cox noted.
"I think (William Booth) would be pleased to see the readiness and compassion of Salvationists today where we respond rapidly to emergency and disasters, but also to human need," he told the Deseret News via email. "I saw an example of this in Ireland recently where the Army, in collaboration with the local authorities, opened up an emergency shelter program from scratch within two weeks. That is impressive, to say the least."
One prominent American supporter was the late Joan Kroc, widow of McDonald's hamburger restaurant co-founder Ray Kroc. Three months after her death in October 2014, Kroc's estate announced a $1.5 billion bequest to The Salvation Army. The gift was earmarked to construct special centers where physical fitness, the arts, education and worship would be emphasized, after the pattern of a $90 million Salvation Army center Kroc financed in San Diego during her lifetime.
The gift allowed the group to, as Lt. Col. Busroe put it, "supersize" its community work. The Kroc centers, of which there are now 26 across the country, were placed in communities that presented a proposal for funding and operating the centers.
In May, the Army's national headquarters released a study that showed the 25 centers constructed before the most recent in Camden, New Jersey, delivered more than $258 million in "annual positive social and economic impact" for their communities, or roughly $10 million per centre.
The community impact goes beyond tangibles, noted Steve Wilson, president of the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Chamber of Commerce. By having a Kroc Center in the city, The Salvation Army is a major employer, he said, with "a direct impact on the livability of the community, which is critical to the expansion of the economy and moving people into the area."
'Invading' Coeur d'Alene
The northern Idaho resort community of Coeur d'Alene isn't the kind of place you'd imagine needs the influence of The Salvation Army. The wealth generated by the mining and lumber business in the town's early history paved the way for the "millionaire's row" of high-cost homes along the city's famous lake and affluence among many residents.
But Maj. Ben Markham, the pastor and commanding officer of the Coeur d'Alene Kroc Center, said the appearance of wealth paints half the picture. There are "some pockets of extreme poverty" in and around the city, and at the three public schools closest to the center, more than half the students receive free or subsidized lunches.
The Army didn't have a physical presence in the city for decades, a long-ago outpost having folded into history, Maj. Markham said. When the Kroc grants became available, Coeur d'Alene jumped at the chance to put in a proposal. According to city spokesman Keith Erickson, "We didn't have a community center, (and) we needed a place to come together."
The $80 million, 12-acre Kroc Center includes a chapel/performing arts center, teen activities center and game room, aquatics center (where the local high school swim teams train and compete), sports training, recreation center and recording studio. Coeur d'Alene is the smallest American community to win one of the facilities, city spokesman Erickson noted.
Justin Shiflett, a 38-year-old former Coeur d'Alene police officer, didn't know The Salvation Army held worship services when he and his wife, Jennifer, 39, became members of the Kroc Center's recreational programs. In 2010, the couple was "looking for something different" in their religious experience, he recalled, and Jennifer suggested the weekly worship services she'd learned took place in the facility.
Within two years, the Shifletts became "Senior Soldiers," or adult members, of the church. Justin stopped working as a private investigator and came on staff as the congregational life manager, working with other parishioners. Jennifer, a former Pampered Chef consultant and team leader, took a part-time job helping with Christmastime fundraising.
Eventually, the pair felt a call to become Salvation Army officers. In September, they'll be at one of the group's regional seminaries for two years of classroom and field training, while their three children, 7, 11 and 15, attend a local school near the seminary.
On graduation, they could be assigned anywhere in 13 Western states, or three U.S. Pacific territories.
"It's exciting," Shiflett said of his family's future. "There's a sense of calm and a sense to us of what we'll be doing for the next 25 years is totally part of God's plan. We're pretty excited, because the opportunities are pretty unknown."
There were "some naysayers" about the bid to place a Kroc Center in Coeur d'Alene, said Erickson, but the center has "exceeded expectations," getting 14,000 paid users of the athletic programs. The city, he said, "had to build a parking garage to accommodate" visitors, including those coming from Spokane for plays and concerts there.
He said construction of the center spurred completion of the city's Prairie Trail, a four-mile walking/biking path that connects the city's northwest section with downtown, he said.
Gateway to the future
The Kroc centers, of which seven are located in the West, are a "thrilling" part of the Army's mission to reach others, said Commissioner James Knaggs, who is the top Salvation Army official in charge of the group's Western U.S. region.
On any Sunday morning, he said, 13 percent of the worship attendance is in the Kroc Center congregations, with the balance spread among approximately 275 corps, or smaller churches. In Kapolei, Hawaii, near Honolulu, he said, 900 turned out for Easter Sunday worship at the Kroc Center there.
Commissioner Knaggs, twice nominated for the movement's top global position, said the impact the Kroc centers have on church attendance isn't surprising. The Army, alongside its social service success, wants to have a spiritual impact on as many people as possible.
The regional leader acknowledged that balancing the two isn't always easy. "The question of social services versus church is a real question everywhere, and there’s a tension everywhere about it," he said.
Commissioner Knaggs said that maintaining that balance falls on local Salvationist pastors. He said the movement hires professionals to deliver the social services while depending on its clergy to add a spiritual element.
"In some places the social services are stronger than the church," he said, "but as long as those services have an officer somewhere in the picture, the heart of God is going to be present."
General Cox said the movement can't be complacent about its successes. "If we have (learned) anything in these past 150 years it is the danger of becoming settled and comfortable in our places of worship and how easy it is for us to shield ourselves from the great needs out in the real world," he said. "We need to feel less comfortable in our (meeting) halls and get out more" to preach the Army's Christian message.
Part Two - Conclusion
Mark A. Kellner, is a journalist living in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is currently a national reporter for the Deseret news, and has written about issues of faith and freedom since 1983.
Mark is a former Salvationist and I was pleased to serve alongside him and his wife Jean in the New York Central Citadel Corps, where I and my wife Kathie served as the commanding officers for six years..
As The Salvation Army celebrates 150 years of operation, its American unit appears financially in excellent shape. Forbes magazine last year ranked the group No. 2 on its list of the country's largest charities.
The Salvation Army, Forbes said, receives annual donations of just over $2 billion, and about $2.3 billion in grants and government funding. Forbes ranked the group at 90 percent for "fundraising efficiency," which it defined as "the percentage of private donations left after subtracting the costs of getting them."
Management guru Peter Drucker once said without any qualifiers, that The Salvation Army was "the most effective organization in the United States."
But the efficiency of the Army's fundraising and administration isn't limited to its American operations, current international leader General André Cox noted.
"I think (William Booth) would be pleased to see the readiness and compassion of Salvationists today where we respond rapidly to emergency and disasters, but also to human need," he told the Deseret News via email. "I saw an example of this in Ireland recently where the Army, in collaboration with the local authorities, opened up an emergency shelter program from scratch within two weeks. That is impressive, to say the least."
One prominent American supporter was the late Joan Kroc, widow of McDonald's hamburger restaurant co-founder Ray Kroc. Three months after her death in October 2014, Kroc's estate announced a $1.5 billion bequest to The Salvation Army. The gift was earmarked to construct special centers where physical fitness, the arts, education and worship would be emphasized, after the pattern of a $90 million Salvation Army center Kroc financed in San Diego during her lifetime.
The gift allowed the group to, as Lt. Col. Busroe put it, "supersize" its community work. The Kroc centers, of which there are now 26 across the country, were placed in communities that presented a proposal for funding and operating the centers.
In May, the Army's national headquarters released a study that showed the 25 centers constructed before the most recent in Camden, New Jersey, delivered more than $258 million in "annual positive social and economic impact" for their communities, or roughly $10 million per centre.
The community impact goes beyond tangibles, noted Steve Wilson, president of the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Chamber of Commerce. By having a Kroc Center in the city, The Salvation Army is a major employer, he said, with "a direct impact on the livability of the community, which is critical to the expansion of the economy and moving people into the area."
'Invading' Coeur d'Alene
The northern Idaho resort community of Coeur d'Alene isn't the kind of place you'd imagine needs the influence of The Salvation Army. The wealth generated by the mining and lumber business in the town's early history paved the way for the "millionaire's row" of high-cost homes along the city's famous lake and affluence among many residents.
But Maj. Ben Markham, the pastor and commanding officer of the Coeur d'Alene Kroc Center, said the appearance of wealth paints half the picture. There are "some pockets of extreme poverty" in and around the city, and at the three public schools closest to the center, more than half the students receive free or subsidized lunches.
The Army didn't have a physical presence in the city for decades, a long-ago outpost having folded into history, Maj. Markham said. When the Kroc grants became available, Coeur d'Alene jumped at the chance to put in a proposal. According to city spokesman Keith Erickson, "We didn't have a community center, (and) we needed a place to come together."
The $80 million, 12-acre Kroc Center includes a chapel/performing arts center, teen activities center and game room, aquatics center (where the local high school swim teams train and compete), sports training, recreation center and recording studio. Coeur d'Alene is the smallest American community to win one of the facilities, city spokesman Erickson noted.
Justin Shiflett, a 38-year-old former Coeur d'Alene police officer, didn't know The Salvation Army held worship services when he and his wife, Jennifer, 39, became members of the Kroc Center's recreational programs. In 2010, the couple was "looking for something different" in their religious experience, he recalled, and Jennifer suggested the weekly worship services she'd learned took place in the facility.
Within two years, the Shifletts became "Senior Soldiers," or adult members, of the church. Justin stopped working as a private investigator and came on staff as the congregational life manager, working with other parishioners. Jennifer, a former Pampered Chef consultant and team leader, took a part-time job helping with Christmastime fundraising.
Eventually, the pair felt a call to become Salvation Army officers. In September, they'll be at one of the group's regional seminaries for two years of classroom and field training, while their three children, 7, 11 and 15, attend a local school near the seminary.
On graduation, they could be assigned anywhere in 13 Western states, or three U.S. Pacific territories.
"It's exciting," Shiflett said of his family's future. "There's a sense of calm and a sense to us of what we'll be doing for the next 25 years is totally part of God's plan. We're pretty excited, because the opportunities are pretty unknown."
There were "some naysayers" about the bid to place a Kroc Center in Coeur d'Alene, said Erickson, but the center has "exceeded expectations," getting 14,000 paid users of the athletic programs. The city, he said, "had to build a parking garage to accommodate" visitors, including those coming from Spokane for plays and concerts there.
He said construction of the center spurred completion of the city's Prairie Trail, a four-mile walking/biking path that connects the city's northwest section with downtown, he said.
Gateway to the future
The Kroc centers, of which seven are located in the West, are a "thrilling" part of the Army's mission to reach others, said Commissioner James Knaggs, who is the top Salvation Army official in charge of the group's Western U.S. region.
On any Sunday morning, he said, 13 percent of the worship attendance is in the Kroc Center congregations, with the balance spread among approximately 275 corps, or smaller churches. In Kapolei, Hawaii, near Honolulu, he said, 900 turned out for Easter Sunday worship at the Kroc Center there.
Commissioner Knaggs, twice nominated for the movement's top global position, said the impact the Kroc centers have on church attendance isn't surprising. The Army, alongside its social service success, wants to have a spiritual impact on as many people as possible.
The regional leader acknowledged that balancing the two isn't always easy. "The question of social services versus church is a real question everywhere, and there’s a tension everywhere about it," he said.
Commissioner Knaggs said that maintaining that balance falls on local Salvationist pastors. He said the movement hires professionals to deliver the social services while depending on its clergy to add a spiritual element.
"In some places the social services are stronger than the church," he said, "but as long as those services have an officer somewhere in the picture, the heart of God is going to be present."
General Cox said the movement can't be complacent about its successes. "If we have (learned) anything in these past 150 years it is the danger of becoming settled and comfortable in our places of worship and how easy it is for us to shield ourselves from the great needs out in the real world," he said. "We need to feel less comfortable in our (meeting) halls and get out more" to preach the Army's Christian message.
Part Two - Conclusion
Mark A. Kellner, is a journalist living in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is currently a national reporter for the Deseret news, and has written about issues of faith and freedom since 1983.
Mark is a former Salvationist and I was pleased to serve alongside him and his wife Jean in the New York Central Citadel Corps, where I and my wife Kathie served as the commanding officers for six years..
Saturday
"Darling, I've found my destiny.” Part One
What you didn't know about The Salvation Army's 150 years of service
On Sunday, thousands of Christians are expected to march along the Mall in London, past Buckingham Palace, sounding drums and tambourines, trumpets and tubas.
They'll be clad in blue, gray serge or white uniforms with red or blue epaulets and the letter "S" on each lapel. It stands for salvation, as in The Salvation Army, an evangelical Christian church that will be celebrating its 150th anniversary in the city where its global work began, now active in 126 countries.
A church?
Yes, The Salvation Army is a church. The "salvation" the movement offers isn't just about used clothing or old furniture, staples of its rehabilitation programs and thrift stores that dot the United States. For the 2 million or so "soldiers" worldwide, the organization is a Protestant denomination descended from the Wesleyan Methodist tradition of its founder, William Booth.
The military name and titles for clergy and army-themed nomenclature were another way Booth and his followers, called soldiers, set the young movement apart. Booth wanted to describe the group as a "volunteer army," which drew objections from his son, Bramwell, because military volunteers were derided in Victorian Britain. "Salvation Army" was chosen instead, and Booth became its first general.
But church officials acknowledge that few people know the religious underpinnings and mission of one the most widely recognized, largest and well-managed charities in the world.
"We have very high name recognition," said Lt. Col. Ron Busroe, the group's national spokesman in the U.S. "Everybody has heard of The Salvation Army but their main idea about what we do has to do with old clothes, Christmas (donation) kettles and disaster relief."
"In the Army's mind, they always understood their (social) service work to be a religious act," Cantwell said. "The public understood they're doing good as an organization that just happened to be Christian."
Balancing the two wings of serving and sermonizing has and will continue to create some tension for the Army and the public. The group staunchly refuses to discriminate in the provision of services, but backs traditional marriage. It has provided adoption services and eschews abortion. And, for church members, smoking, alcohol and drugs are off-limits.
The organization's high standing in America comes from it's good deeds, said University of Southern California professor Diane H. Winston author of "Red Hot and Righteous" a history of the American branch.
The Salvation Army "has been one of the largest fundraisers in this country not because it preaches the Christian gospel, but because it helps people," Winston said.
'Soup, Soap and Salvation'
In July 1865, William Booth and his wife, Catherine, moved to London to continue a ministry of evangelism. Booth, tall and angular with a prominent nose and the bearing of an ancient prophet, stood outside The Blind Beggar pub on the Mile End Road and began preaching, his voice reaching inside.
“‘There is a heaven in East London for everyone,' they heard him cry, 'for everyone who will stop and think and look to Christ as a personal Savior,’” biographer Richard Collier wrote. The declaration was met with the splat of a rotten egg on the side of Booth's face, yet the preacher walked home at midnight and told his young wife, 'Darling, I've found my destiny.’”
Booth's preaching soon moved to a tent at a nearby cemetery, and converts followed. These new Christians, impoverished and sometimes inelegantly attired, weren't always welcome in the Methodist congregations the preacher frequented. Opening his own chapel, Booth's work soon attracted acolytes who wanted to spread a Christian message of "full salvation" to those who needed it most. According to the group's historical archives in London, branches of the Christian Mission were established in other parts of Britain, and converted to Salvation Army "barracks" when the name changed.
A military-style uniform was adopted, Army lore has it, both to equalize the ranks with no one clothed finer than another, as well as to be distinctive on the street. To this day, an organizational history states, the Army's uniform is a global symbol of people who want to, as Booth's daughter Evangeline put it, "do the most good."
A big part of that "good" in the Army, which in its early years was very much a Booth family enterprise, came in the 1880s, when William Booth ordered his oldest son to get a warehouse and do something for the homeless men of London, adding, "But mind, Bramwell, no coddling!" as Christian History magazine recorded.
The Army's social services, known today as Adult Rehabilitation Centers, are known for involving the homeless and the addicted — women as well as men — in "work therapy," repairing used furniture, cleaning donated clothes and selling the items in thrift stores.
The group says such work, along with clean clothes, showers and a heavy dose of evangelization, helps repair the lives of these "clients," with the hope they will return to their families and communities as productive citizens. The program gained the motto of offering "Soup, Soap and Salvation" to all takers.
Accepting that Christian message, Lt. Col. Busroe said, is optional. "We do not use the (social) services as some type of carrot to entice you to accept and live the way we think you ought to live, though we'd love for you to do that," he said.
Serving others served to endear the Army to the American public, particularly during the 1900 Galveston, Texas, hurricane and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, according to historian Cantwell. "What led to the Army's overwhelming acceptance was by and large its service work," he said.
Perhaps the group's most recognized fundraising vehicle, the Christmas donation kettle, owes its origin to American efforts as well. In 1891, an officer in San Francisco set up a food kettle as a vehicle for financial gifts, with a sign reading, "Keep the pot boiling." The idea took off and today, the red kettles — some with credit card readers — are ubiquitous outside retail outlets here and abroad.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones annually includes the Christmas Kettle kickoff campaign as part of a nationally televised game. Other entertainment figures have volunteered at Christmas kettles alongside service club members, and the U.S. Postal Service commemorated the Army's 1965 centennial with a special postage stamp, recognition rarely accorded a faith-based group.
Thursday
Nuclear Deal Pushes Israel Aside, Raises Iran To Leading US Partner And Ally
"Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu bitterly accused the “leading international powers of gambling our collective future on a deal with the foremost sponsor of international terrorism” – roundly condemning all six world powers who signed the nuclear deal with Iran in Vienna Tuesday, July 14.
President Barack Obama topped the list. Netanyahu pointed out that the president had determined on a deal with Iran at any price before he took office, which is true. Therefore, it had nothing to do with the poor relations between himself and the US President, he said in answer to critics. It was now time for Israeli leaders to set aside differences and pull together, he said.
Opposition leader, the Zionist Union’s Yitzhak Herzog, agreed and said he was enlisting for the necessary effort on behalf of Israeli security. Tuesday night he received an update on the situation from the prime minister.
The special security cabinet meeting, called to discuss the ramifications of the nuclear deal, hours after it was signed, unanimously rejected it and declared “this deal does not commit Israel.”
Unfortunately, Israel was never asked for its commitment, any more than the other Middle East powers directly affected by it. The cabinet statement was therefore no more than a meaningless expression of futility, a sensation shared equally by Saudi King Salman and Egyptian President Abdel-Fatteh El-Sisi, in the face of the iron wall Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have built for Iran in the region.
Both unceremoniously ditched Israel and its Arab neighbors in order to join hands with Iran. By this reshuffle of allies, Washington has created a new geopolitical reality in the region at the expense of its equilibrium.
The US Congress has 60 days to review the nuclear accord and reach a decision. But if Netanyahu had had any hopes of swinging the Senate around to voting down the veto President Obama promised to impose to mullify its rejection, that hope swiftly vanished in thin air.
Read more HERE.
It´s Thursday (31)
'Now Joseph was well
built and very handsome, and after a while his master's wife took notice of
Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”' Genesis 39:7
We are told that God
was with Joseph (v2), that his master, Potiphar, trusted him implicitly, (v4).
Although a slave, Joseph could not have asked for a better situation in which
to be a slave except, that is, until his master's wife set about trying to
seduce him. Assuming that she was an attractive woman, Joseph may well have
experienced tremendous temptation. Whatever the attraction, Joseph did not let
his feelings take control. He was determined to do the right thing and to be
worthy of the trust his master had placed upon him. We must not assume that
because he did not surrender to her advances he found it easy. It may have been
anything but easy for him. For we read, 'Though she spoke to Joseph day after
day, he refused to go to bed with her or even to be with her.' (v12).
Sometimes temptation
can come knocking at our door relentlessly. Satan know that if he is
persistent, in many cases he can wear a person down and give them reasons, that
sound quite plausible at the time, to give in. The best way to deal with such
temptation is to take ourselves completely away from temptation's source, (if
at all possible), and focus our minds elsewhere. Joseph avoided even being in
the woman's company. But, as William Congreve states, 'Hell hath no fury like a
woman scorned.' Potiphar's wife was so incensed at Joseph spurning her efforts
to seduce him that she accused him of trying to seduce her, presenting herself
as the virtuous one. The result was that her furious husband, thinking that
Joseph had betrayed his trust, had him thrown into prison.
Sometimes doing the
right thing will get us into a lot of trouble. We will suffer for it rather
than be applauded, and be on the receiving end of fury and contempt rather than
gratitude. As human beings we naturally expect good to come our way as a result
of being good and doing the right thing. We are shocked when things turn out
otherwise. We need to look at the cross and realise that we might not receive
our just deserts and that, though things might appear otherwise, God may well
be working out his purposes in the injustice we experience. What might seem a
terribly unfair thing to have happened, may well turn out to be a path to
blessing. God bless you all.
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