The Old Wells

Reasons and excuses

2011-12-14T07:30:00.003Z

People are often called upon to give reasons for there actions but often those reasons sound like excuses.
For example here is the reason someone gave about why they didn't come into work. "I forgot to take in the Sunday paper, so after initially leaving the house I thought it was Sunday. By the time I had realized that it was in fact Monday, it wasn't worth coming in".
Reason or excuse?
I wonder how the shepherds explained the fact that they left their sheep on the hillside whilst they rushed off to Bethlehem to see a baby. Telling your boss that an angel told you to do it, seems a poor excuse, except of course, it happened to be true and history reveals that they did in fact have very good reason for their trip.
In John's introduction to Jesus he comments on the way in which people reacted to his coming. In Chapter 1:12 he says, “He came He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”
Some of the stories of those who either welcomed Jesus or rejected him are outlined in the gospel narrative. Whether their actions were based on good reasons or excuses is a matter of discussion and can challenge us to look at our own responses to Jesus and to his call upon our lives.
Take Joseph for example.
Joseph who had plenty reason to separate himself from Mary and her baby. What man wouldn’t be confused and hurt by the fact that his fiancé was pregnant knowing that he wasn’t the father? On top of that the girl seems to have taken leave of her senses by claiming that no other man has been involved and the pregnancy is the result of divine intervention, the child being the longed for Messiah.
He was bound to be upset, but he didn’t go down the route of disgracing Mary either by divorcing her publicly or going even further and have her stoned for adultery, which would have been his right. However it was also his right to handle the whole thing quietly and simply walk away. As a kind and gentle man he that is what he chose to do. The Bible says, “And Joseph her husband, was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.” (Matthew 1:19)
That was the reasonable, understandable and acceptable. But through a dream God presented Joseph him with reasons to accept Mary’s story as true and to bring the boy up as his own son.
He is reassured by an angel that Mary is telling the truth and that the baby is to be called Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.
Joseph understood clearly what God expected of him, and was ready to obey! He would take Mary to be his wife and suffer the cutting remarks of a child conceived prior to their wedding. He would obey in spite of the fact that this child would be born under a cloud of adultery.
To avoid lashing out when we are hurt takes a great deal of self-control. Joseph is to be commended for the fact that he didn’t react to Mary’s news with angry impulse but with a thought-through plan that would minimise the damage and save face for everyone. It often takes self-control and good sense to do a good thing but it takes faith to do what you know is the right thing, the best thing, especially if you have the perfect excuses not to and nobody would blame you for not taking the risk.
Joseph rejected the excusable reaction but he also went beyond the reasonable reaction and accepted God’s call to make an obedient reaction.
There will be many times in life when the easiest thing will be to make a decision that comes from an emotional response or because it is the most convenient thing for us. Once made, even if we know in our hearts that we didn’t really do our best, we can ease our conscience with excuses. Then there are other times when we act with a clearer head and heart and convenience isn’t the issue but we settle for less than we feel we God is calling us to do because he calls us to go beyond the sensible, reasonable and culturally acceptable course of action.

Joseph is my kind of hero. He made no excuses and went beyond reason to be obedient to God.

God bless

Carol

Mood or Mindset

2011-12-06T18:19:00.005Z

Here are Alan's notes from 27th November 2011. We probably won't have time to use them in cell groups before Christmas but it might be good to reflect on the Bible Reading and thoughts again in our own devotions. I will post notes from Sunday 4th December tomorrow

How festive are you feeling?
Do you have to get into the right mood for Christmas? What does it take for you to feel Christmassy? Cold weather? Log fires? Mince pies? Carols? Sprouts? Well maybe not sprouts!
There is essentially nothing wrong with the lovely traditions of Christmas which generate a happier atmosphere and a sense of well-being. In fact I get a bit fed up when we Christians get a bit poe faced about it all. But surely Jesus came to do more than change our mood for a season but came to change our minds and hearts for eternity.
In the Bible when the word mind is used, it does not just mean mental exercise or brain power but includes your whole attitude, your demeanour, your mind set—the whole way you live your life. It includes your internal thoughts and attitude as well as your external actions. It involves how you think, feel, and act.
In his letter to the Philippians Paul tells us that we don’t just need to know the mind of Christ, i.e, his opinion on stuff but we should have his mind. In other words it would be a really amazing thing if we could adopt his outlook, his attitudes, his response on everything.
1. Anything
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to death even to death on a cross.”
Why did Jesus Christ trade his rightful place in heaven for possibly something as inhospitable as a cavein Bethlehem. He could even have been born in the street. There is no cosy stable in the biblical account of his birth.
It was because the human race although given a perfect environment and opportunity to live for God messed it up. We messed it up so badly that with out intervention we face eventually being cut off from God, who is the source of all goodness for eternity.
But God was prepared to do anything that didn't deny his character to help us. He was prepared to take our mess upon himself so that we could get out of it. In Jesus, he placed himself in the same position as every human being and even lower.
A missionary told the story of two rugged, powerful mountain goats who met on a narrow pathway joining two mountain ridges. On one side was a chasm 1,000 feet deep; on the other, a steep cliff rising straight up. So narrow was the trail that there was no room to turn around, and the goats could not back up without falling. What would they do? Finally, instead of fighting for the right to pass, one of the goats knelt down and made himself as flat as possible. The other goat then walked over him, and they both proceeded safely.
Jesus saw us as trapped with no way to help ourselves. By dying for sinful mankind, He let us "walk over Him" so that we could experience forgiveness and receive eternal life.
2. Everything
The scale of what Jesus has done for us and wants to do for us suddenly becomes immense. When we really understand the coming of Jesus then we know we can't just adopt a mood of niceness until Boxing Day but that we must let him take hold of everything we are.
The old hymn puts it, “Love so amazing so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.
This is not about paying Jesus back for what he has done. Jesus is not a loan shark, who gives us what we need when we are down on our luck but is on out back forever getting as much out of us as he can squeeze for ever and ever.
Those of us who are parents will know that the arrival of your new baby changes everything. It bears no comparison with babysitting or helping at toddlers. You don’t just find there is a little more to do. You change. You have changed your status to mother or father. You think differently about yourself as a result. The way you live your life changes, decisions have to be made with consideration to how this will affect the baby. We know that a baby isn’t just for Christmas but for life.
Paul said this his letter to the Corinthians in the Message translatio:
“Jesus included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived in their own. Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at Jesus the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore, Now we look on the inside and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start is created new . The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from God who settled the relationship between us and him.”
3. Anyone
You can’t say after reading Paul's words that Christianity can ever just be about getting in a good mood once a year. Do you notice in those words that Paul talks about getting a new way of looking at things? In this he not only means how we view Jesus but also how we think about other people.

The rest of that passage from 2 Corinthians says. “God settled his relationship between us and him and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. We’re speaking for Christ himself.”
If we are going to speak on behalf of someone else we had better know them and their mind, their approach.
We have seen that Jesus approach was to selflessness, servant-hood and unlimited sacrifice.
We reflect this in the last item on our Prayer Beacon list of values.
CARING
“The cross is a demonstration of the sacrificial love of Christ and we believe that he calls us to acts of compassion and social justice. Pill Corps should be a place where action is taken to minister to those who are in need or who are hurting, both in our own locality and beyond.”
God bless

Alan and Carol

2011-11-25T16:39:00.004Z

SHARING

Believing that God created human beings for relationships Pill Corps is committed to being a place where authentic and honest community can be built. As a prayer beacon we want to share our prayer space as much as is logistically possible and show hospitality beyond our own fellowship in as many ways as possible.

When we make our statement that as a Prayer Beacon we want to be a sharing community, a place where authentic and honest community can be built it’s a very good intention but I suppose the next question is “Yes but what does that actually mean? What does an authentic and honest community really look like?

Anyone who has done a jigsaw knows that it is always easier to complete the puzzle if there is a picutre to follow on the box. It gives a framework and an idea of how the pieces might fit together.

In terms of what an authentic Christian community might look like 1 Thessalonians 5:12-18 is the picture on the box of the puzzle.

1. Respectful
The first thing Paul deals with is the relationship that this family has with its leadership and the relationship of leaders to their family.
It is clear from the Bible that God has ordained leadership for communities including the local church.

Leadership in the Christian community works best when two things are balanced. Those who lead work hard, provide loving care but also are prepared to give a challenging word when needed. On the other hand, it is the responsiblity of the community to value leaders and “hold them in the highest regard in love.

Personally I cannot bear laziness and I know I have to be careful because with my tendency overwork I have to watch that I'm not judgmental about other peoples work ethic. Still don't you think it shows lack of respect to the community if leaders want people to do the work of the kingdom if they are not prepared to do some of it themselves?

But at the same time it is also disrespectful of the community towards a leader if they are taken for granted. Over the years I have sadly met those who walked away from leadership, not because the work was too hard or the decision making difficult but because they just couldn't take the relentless criticism anymore. Respecting leaders doesn't mean we can't disagree with leadership, it doesn't mean we don't give feedback but we do it with courtesy and dignity.
As brother and sisters in Christ, leaders are among us and at the same time “over us in the Lord. This can be a tension apart from Christian love. It demands grace and the power of the Spirit to be evident in the whole family.
2. Building each other up.
There are some important words and phrases here about how we're supposed to be treating each other; urge, warn, encourage, help, be patient, try to be kind.

William Ward once said: “Flatter me and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you.”

We can all see the need to be kind and encouraging to one another but some of those words are harder words, like urge or warn. Being kind to one another doesn't mean we have nothing to offer each other by way of correction and guidance.
When we spend time trying to help an individual, one of the first things we realize is that people don’t change as fast as we want them to, which is why Paul slips in the instruction, “Be patient with everyone.”
There are people in the community who will hurt us. What do we do when that happens? Whatever you do, refuse to retaliate. Instead we should practise kindness. Kindness is an underated quality. We tend to applaud people for their talent or their vibrant personality, their wisdom or their creativity but without kindness, a community is like an engine without much oil.

3 Positive Attitudes
We can't have a good community if we're the kind of people who are always looking for things to criticize. Negativity makes us miserable. It's just easier to be close to someone who's joyful, isn't that true? It's just easier to be close to someone who's thankful.

Paul warns us not to put out the Spirit's fire. The Holy Spirit is someone's life creates positive attitudes in abundance. Paul calls them the fruit of the Spirit in his letter to the Galatians. The Greeks had a race in their Olympic games that was unique. The winner was not the runner who finished first. It was the runner who finished with his torch still lit.

Paul recognizes that a community that puts all the things he has suggested in place is a miraculous thing. It is relationships that operate on a deep level and we almost gasp at the expectations he puts before us.

He qualifies his high expectation by ending not with a call for everyone to make a greater effort at all this but by referring to the activity of God.

God is among us creating a sanctified community that shines out in the world because of the quality of the life that is shared.

It is God who creates authentic community around us as we cooperate with him. What the blessing says is, "The one who called you is faithful, and he will do it." What ultimately matters in the life of a family of beleivers is that we don't just muddle along together but we let the grace of God to truly sanctify our relationships.

God bless

Carol

Learning

2011-10-22T21:00:00.003+01:00

"Pill Corps seeks to offer an environment where spiritual growth is encouraged through good teaching, training and equipping. As a Prayer Beacon we aim to use all our experience and our facilities to become a resource for training and development in prayer.”

When we make this statement we have to recognise that all of us who have already made Pill Corps our spiritual home are all at different stages in our understanding of God and his purposes. However we also want to be a welcoming place to people who have yet to surrender their lives to Jesus Christ as their Saviour. In fact we want that people can come among us know that they are coming to a place of discovery, a where they can ask questions and be helped to find answers.

It is said that there are five top questions that human beings really need answering.

1. What is my purpose in life?
2. Am I valuable?
3. Who is my provider?
4. Who controls my destiny?
5. What am I responsible for?

In the story of Jesus we find those questions are addressed and Jesus giving his answers to them. Of course we might want to ask why the answers of a Jewish peasant who lived 2000 years ago matter. What gives his answers to life’s questions any more weight than those of anyone else?

We would not be the first to ask such a question. People constantly challenged Jesus about his qualification to become a spiritual leader. Yet other people recognised that Jesus had a kind of natural authority. Even when he was as young as 12 people were stunned by his grip on things and the answers he was coming up with. The other thing about Jesus was that not only did he talk sense about life, he backed up what he said by doing some amazing stuff.

He surprised a lot of people by telling them that they had God’s approval even though in the eyes of society and according to some of the religious teachers they were thought to be no hopers. In fact it was widely believed that if you had a disability it was because you or your parents had done something really bad. Jesus shut a lot of them up, by restoring the sight of blind people, healing very sick people and even raising the dead!
Jesus countered some of his critics by saying, “If you don’t believe what I am saying, judge me by my actions.”

Surprisingly Jesus also talked a lot about himself. He said things like “I am the way, the truth and the life.” He was kind of setting himself up not only as having answers but being the answer to the meaning of life itself. In using the phrase I am the way, the truth and the life, he was saying that he was more than an ordinary man. He was claiming to be God in human form. That’s a pretty arrogant claim, a pretty mad claim or a pretty fraudulent claim, unless it happens to be true.

When Jesus died a horrible death by crucifixion, his followers were pretty disillusioned and wondered about the truth of all his words. But then the man who had said “I am the resurrection and the life.” rose from dead! He had done it again. He backed up his answers to questions of life by a very powerful action. If Jesus could conquer the greatest mystery of all, death itself then he was definitely worth knowing, worth following, worth committing your life and your whole eternal future to.

There is plenty of evidence to suggest that Jesus Christ really did rise from the dead, evidence from the Bible, evidence from history and evidence from experience. If we are truly assured that Jesus is not just a figure from history but alive today and who is who the Bible claims him to be then life-long learning from him about life needs to be a central part of our experience.

Those of us who have found answers to life's big questions in Jesus, long to help others to do so as well. At the same time we are all aware that there is still so much more for us to know. As disciples of Jesus we recognise that he is constantly leading us onward into a closer, deeper, stronger relationship with him. Following Jesus never becomes boring because he keeps on surprising us with the depth of his character and the height of his love.

God bless

Carol

2011-10-14T19:09:00.002+01:00

Prayer Beacon value: PRAYING

It is obvious that a church should be about Jesus. Pill Corps believes it can be place where people can meet with Jesus and be changed by him. Prayer is not just about adding effectiveness to what we do but is about friendship with Jesus. In any relationships intimacy grows from time spent with the one we love. As a Prayer Beacon we practise a rhythm of prayer, through which people may encounter Jesus.

Bible Notes from 24th September

The writer of Psalm 84 writes with intensity about his desire to be in the presence of God, to be with Him.

Meeting with the living Jesus through the Spirit, who takes us into the presence of God, is at the heart of what we are about. If the divine presence is missing then we are missing the whole point of our existence as a church. Experiencing the presence of God is not an empty hope. In fact we can even expect more than a once in a life-time spiritual experience. We can live with him.

1. We want to dwell with him
Some relationships between boys and girls never get beyond the disastrous first date but for others there is a progression in the relationship. They don’t just want to go on dates they want to share an intimate life together for the rest of their lives.
Psalm 84 was used when pilgrims made their way to the Temple, where they believed that God’s presence rested in a special way. But David recognised that the real blessing was not a yearly visit.
v 4 says; “Blessed are those who dwell in your house they are ever praising you.”
The word dwell means linger, hang out implies that you want to stay there!

We don’t want to have appointments with Him from time to time, like a client with therapist. We don’t want to go on dates like a boy and girl starting a romance. We want to go on more than a legal arrangement of parental access to our Father God, we want to be able to live with Him, know Him, turn to Him not just for the rest of our lives here on earth but forever.

2. We want to pay any price.
And for that opportunity to be near God we are prepared to pay any price, take any position.

Psalm 84:10 “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than dwell in the tents of the wicked.”
Athough we are willing to be doorkeepers it is not what God actually offers. In His story of the prodigal son, Jesus tells us that as the son made his way home he rehearsed his speech that he would say to his father. He would beg his father to let him be a hired servant, even a slave if he could just be allowed back into his father’s household. But when the son arrived expecting that he would be a servant he was welcomed as a son and given the privileges of a son.

Paul says in Galatians, “God sent the Spirit of his son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba Father.” So you are no longer a slave but a son and since you are a son God has also made you an heir.”
We deserve to be treated as servants, to sit at the back as onlookers to the glories of heaven instead we are invited in and treated as sons and daughters of the King of Kings.

3. We need to know who is in charge
We are called to dwell with God. He lives with us, we live with Him. And that sets up a question of authority. If we are living with the Lord, we need to know who is in charge.
Jesus said; "If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you.
This means that when we ask Jesus what he thinks about something he is very unlikely to say, "I don't mind, whatever." When we welcome Jesus into our lives and make room for Him to live, it is not as a silent guest with no opinions or commands, but as an authoritative head of the household whose opinions matter more to us than anyone else's and whose commands are the law of our life.

4. We sometimes feel like moving
What He offers us now is His presence but the accommodation we share with Him may sometimes be hard and difficult for a time although he promises that our permanent heavenly dwelling with Him will be perfect.

The Hebrew people during their 40 years in the desert often got mixed up. They looked back on Egypt which was their prison as a paradise. They then made the mistake of looking upon their present position as a permanent one, when God was actually moving towards the fulfilment of His promise. What they needed to do was rest in the presence of a God who was leading them to a Promised Land.

Your accommodation might be other than you would wish it. You may have unresolved problems, feel misunderstood, be in the midst of change or a million other things. The only promise Jesus gave us was; “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

God is not an acquaintance or even a friendly neighbour. He’s not just a relative we spend every Christmas with and communicate with on facebook. He is our home address and in a miraculous way, we are His.

Cell questions
1. What is your most recent experience of being aware of God’s presence in your life?

2. What description of a Christian’s relationship with God do you find best describes your own relationship with him? (e.g friendship, father and a child, shepherd and sheep, Master and servant, King and citizen etc)

3. What is the most comforting thing and the most uncomfortable thing about having Jesus living with you?

4. Jesus is not a silent guest in our lives, what has he been saying to you lately?

5. We sometimes have to live with Jesus through difficult circumstances, which at times feel permanent. Pray for anyone in the group or for people who we know are going through difficult times that they may be aware of the promise of Jesus to never leave them or forsake them.

God bless

Carol

2011-10-13T10:14:00.002+01:00

We are looking forward to the launch of Pill Corps as a Prayer Beacon on November 11th. Emerging from the 24/7 Prayer Movement, specialist prayer centres known as Boiler Rooms have been set up in numerous places around the world. Boiler Rooms are very experimental and regularly re-invent themselves to explore new territory and structures.
In the UK Sanctuary 21 based in Durham is an exciting example of a Salvation Army Boiler Room. http://sanctuary21.co.uk/index.php

However there are now established Corps that are sensing a call to focus all the elements of their life and work through the lens of prayer. They are becoming known as Prayer Beacons. The first one in the UK is Banbury Corps. http://www.salvationarmybanbury.co.uk/prayer-beacon.php Prayer Beacons seek to apply Boiler Room principles and practices in the context of familiar and recognisable Corps settings, humbly desiring to help others to move deeper into prayer.

Pill Corps has been a praying corps for many years and the transition to a Cell based model of doing mission has strengthened this. You can read more about the Pill Corps' journey towards becoming a Prayer Beacon at http://backgroundppb.blogspot.com/

One of the things we were concerned about with adopting the title of Prayer Beacon was that it might conflict with our cell-church principles and practices or that we might find ourselves struggling with two sets of values to work from. The opposite is true. When we put our existing values as a Cell based corps alongside the Prayer Beacon values we found they matched perfectly and both express the DNA of the Salvation Army in a clear and confident way.

In our Sunday gathering and in our cells in the lead up to our launch as a Prayer Beacon we are re-visiting these values and I hope to blog the messages and cell notes as regularly as I can.

God bless

Carol

Blindness

2011-10-03T10:06:00.002+01:00

I am reading a book by Henri Nouwen called Creative Ministry. In a chapter on teaching and learning, he refers to the writing of Bernard Longeran who referred to the fact that people often prefer darkness to light and sees how that parallels a physical condition called a scotosis which results in a scotoma, or blindspot.

Henro Nouwen comments how this works out in practice

"Scotosis means long and fierce discussions about justice and equality while we hate out teacher or ignore the needs of our fellow students. Scotosis means endless academic quarrels in a world filled with atrocities amd much talk about hunger by people suffering overweight. Scotosis allows church people to indulge in comfortable discussions about the Kingdom of God while they know that God is with the poor, the sick and the hungry and the dying."

Where do we start to change that? Perhaps it is facing up to the idea that we have been blind to our own blindness.

God bless

Carol

Re-opening the wells

2011-09-29T16:41:00.006+01:00

News has reached my ears that a rumour is abroad that the "Old Wells" have run dry since it is July since I put anything new on it.

I actually don't always find blogging an easy thing to do. It's not that I don't have any thoughts or that there is nothing to say. People who know me well say that I always have something to say! It's just that sometimes the things that are uppermost in my mind cannot be shared because of the senstive nature of pastoral ministry. At other times in life there is just so much other stuff going on that there is no time to write about the stuff that is going on. It's has been all of that that has prevented me blogging in August and September.

Anyway I hope to be back regulalry from October and to blog as often as I can with a weekly Cell Group notes, some of the exciting things happening in Pill and hopefully just some general musings about walking with Jesus.

And since now I've started and it feels good to be back, I'd just like to say that today I have been married to Alan Young for 32 years today. How we have managed this is by the grace of God and the fact that we laugh a lot!

A few weeks ago Alan was leading the morning meeting at Pill and introduced the first song, "How great thou art" by very seriously saying, "This is a special song for Carol and I because we had it at out wedding!" to which my response was, "No we didn't!" Obviously the years with me have taken their toll on his little grey memory cells, either that or there is another wife somewhere, that sang this song with him:)

The song we actually sang was "I know thee who thou art" by Albert Orsborn and (now he's remembered) Alan could really say that it is a very special song for us because we also sang it on our Covenant Day before our Commissioning in 1982.

Here's reminder of the words.

I know thee who thou art
And what they healing name
For when my fainting heart
The burden nigh o'ercame
I saw thy footprints on my road
Where lately passed the Son of God

They name is joined with mine
By every human tie
And my new name is thine
A child of God am I;
And never more alone since thou
Art on the road beside me now

Beside thee as I walk
I will delight in thee
In sweet communion talk
Of all thou art to me;
The beauty of thy face behold
And know thy mercies manifold.

Let nothing draw me back
Of turn my heart from thee,
But by the Calvary track
Bring me at last to see
The courts of God, that city fair
And find my name is written there.

God bless

Carol

The Jewel of holiness: Liberty

2011-07-20T21:49:00.002+01:00

"Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty."
(2 Corinthians 3:17)

Here are Alan's notes from our series on another aspect of holiness, spiritual freedom or liberty.
The connection of holiness and liberty or freedom is part of our Salvation Army history. Brengle’s books on holiness were published by the Army as “The Liberty Library”
Pauls words above were written to a people who were falling into a trap of trying to live up to particular standards and meet the expectations of others in order to try and re-establish a right standing with God. It was paralyzing their Christian experience.

Holiness is simply about letting the Spirit of Jesus have His way in our lives. It is not about earning His approval but receiving power and grace from Him to follow Him.
There is great liberty in this.

1 LIBERTY TO PARALYSED WALKERS
Walkers on the Christian pathway are called to walk in liberty. Galatians Chap 3 verse 1 says, 'We are called to freedom', and verse 16 of the same chapter tells us to 'walk by the Spirit'.
Lloyd John Ogilvie writes that in his opinion the "truly free people he has met have been the people who have dealt with their past, experienced forgiveness, are not tied to compulsive patterns of behaviour for their own sake and are dependent on the opinions and criticisms of others to dictate their future."
There are however, many Christians who believe in Christ but are halted in their walk with Him because they are uptight. They are still distressed by mistakes made in the past, unsettled by the criticisms of others and as a result that make no progress.
We can deal with this by saying well nobody perfect, why try or we go the other way and say; "I'm going to try hard and I'm going to do my best, live a holy life without blemish."
The outcome is either licence or perfectionism and neither works. Before long both leave us feeling trapped by failure and the future holds little hope.
But this is not life by the Spirit. If we live like this we are living as if Good Friday, Easter Morning and Pentecost never happened.
We were recently at Commissioning and that always brings back memories of our early days starting out as green Lieutenants. One of our treasured pieces of equipment that we relied upon to help us in our ministry was Carol’s imperial typewriter. I have never learned to touch type but even my slow tapping of the keys was better than writing out sermons in longhand. After about 4 years or so we were able to afford to buy an electric typewriter and it was great but it took some getting used to. In fact we still kept that old Imperial typewriter and it took me a while to handle the new machine. It went so fast and it seemed to take over and I couldn’t control it. Your brain somehow seemed to be half a beat behind your fingers.
Then when we got a word processor, we then couldn’t bear to get rid of the old electric typewriter for ages and still used it for a while. But then technology because to move so fast and we got used to embracing change. Some Christians are like that, comfortable in the familiar routine of their good deeds and church going, feeling secure in a system of earning spiritual brownie points. They don’t know how to handle something new.
Paul had to remind the Galatians of this in Galatians Chap 3 verse 3 and the J. B. Phillips translation says; 'Surely you can't be so idiotic as to think that a man begins his spiritual life in the Spirit and then completes it by reverting to outward observances'.
We do not need to walk with the reins of self-improvement hampering us but we can be led along an unknown future pathway with the in-built power of the Spirit directing us, but we must trust him and let Him lead.
2. FREEDOM FOR PARALYSED WORKERS
It has been said that there are many willing people, those who are willing to work and those who are willing to let them.
1 Corinthians Chap 3 and verse 9 which says; 'we are labourers together with God so we are called to work for Him'. However there is a great error that many Christians fall into and that is to let their work for God become God. The one concern of a worker in God's business is to concentrate on God. Anything else will lead to them becoming burdened by all they have to do and the stressful workers eventually become paralysed workers.
The work will take their time and energy and will instead of being a channel through which God's life is poured it is a road away from His presence. The further we are from God's presence the more we will feel the burden of the responsibility, and the frustration of our inability to achieve what we set out for.
The scandal going on with the News of the World in these days has highlighted an issue that can happen in big organisations. The defence of the bosses’ at the top has been that people lower down the pecking order, when acting both immorally and illegally were acting independently of their management and their knowledge.
The worker for God who loses personal connection with the one they are working for will soon either become puffed up with their own self-importance and then fall flat on their face, or they will become so burdened they will become resentful and complain.
Where there is a constant touch with God there is freedom. There are some kinds of work where the employer is never seen but where the worker is not only required to see and work with the boss but also to live in. Workers for God are of course the second kind. They are required to "live in". Live in the realm of the Spirit. Here there is no sole responsibility on you for the work, only the responsibility of co-operating with God. The initiatives, campaigns and workload will be His.
3. FREEDOM TO PARALYSED WORSHIPPERS
Although a person can worship on their own they can do it more naturally and effectively with other people in the body of other believers.
The writer to the Hebrews exhorted Christians not to stay away from the services but to help the whole group continually offer up to God the sacrifice of praise that is the tribute of lips, which acknowledge His name.
I am convinced too that we really need the liberty of the Spirit to touch our worship and make us freer. Everyone is different and will want to express worship differently. Some have more extrovert personalities than others do and we must never get to the point where someone is condemned because they prefer to worship in a more conservative or more liberal way than us.
What concerns me is if we long to be more expressive but because of shyness or fear of what others might think, we are inhibited. One of the things that marks a Spirit filled Church is freedom in prayer, testimony and joyful praise.
Worship is a matter of will, whilst fear, embarrassment and shyness are emotions. Psalm 29 says; 'Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness' it doesn't add when you feel like it or when no one can see you.
Many people are ruled by their minds and their emotions and sometimes the stress of that is such that it affects the physical. But God's plan is that man should be ruled by His Spirit that is his Godly part for the Spirit of man relies not on a man's own resources but on God.
It is our will, which chooses which, will rule our life and it is our will, which chooses which, will rule our worship. Our body may be tired; it doesn't feel like praise, our emotions are fearful, our minds distracted by many things but the Spirit says; 'God requires me to worship Him' whether I feel like it or not.

Set my spirit free that I might worship Thee,
Set my spirit free that I might praise Thy name.
Let all bondage go and let deliverance flow,
Set my spirit free to worship Thee.

The Spirit will give us freedom but we choose whether we want it. If we do we will no longer be paralysed but mobile and usable. It will transform our daily walk with God, our work for God and our worship of God. Let’s allow the Spirit touch the paralysed limbs of our spiritual experience and give us liberty.

God bless

Carol

The Jewel of Holiness -Wholeness

2011-07-17T18:57:00.006+01:00

There are three aspects of wholeness that I believe are helpful in our understanding of what it means to live a holy life.
1. All encompassing
Holiness is everything that God is. Holy is a word that you can put in front of every aspect of his nature. If we talk about his love, it is holy love, if we talk about his wisdom it is holy wisdom, if we talk about his power, it is holy power and so on. And when we see God’s love, his power, his kindness it is breathtakingly beautiful. This beautiful God said, “You shall be holy unto me for I the Lord am holy."

Jesus, as a human being, perfectly reflected God’s beautiful holiness. When we see him see the Father and we also see what a truly holy life looks life. Most of us have places in our homes where we hide rubbish or unsightly things. In our house they are called glory holes. Jesus lived a life without any “glory holes” Every thought, every deed, every word, everything about him could be said to be holy and his life is a beautiful life.
If we are to be holy as God is holy, then we will need to be like Jesus. True holiness will “beautify” every part of us. There must not be any aspect of our life where we say to God, I don’t want you to put the word holy before it.
So we are to be holy Salvationists but also holy wives and husbands, holy parents, holy neighbours, holy workers, holy friends, holy in our leisure, holy in our study, holy in our goals and aspirations. The theme of Roots 2010 was a good one it was “Wholly holy”
It is the plan of God to invade every area of your life with his beauty. This includes your spirit, your mind, intellect, will and your body.

2. Integration
Wholeness also speaks about something that is truly connected and integrated. If we only outwardly conform to holy living but inwardly we are in rebellion at some point we will fall apart. Some Christians try to live chameleon type lives. They try to merge in with the background they are in. So they are one kind of person at work and another at home or at church. But even if Christians are outwardly consistent but inwardly rebellions they will eventually find the stress of the conflict between the two, too much.
Paul talks about the work of Christ being one of reconciliation. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself." (2 Cor 5:17)
To reconcile- literally means to mend what is broken, to put back together again.
It is the work of Christ to pick up the brokenness of our lives and re-integrate us and bring us back to harmony.
3. Free from disease
The Bible likens the nature of sin as being a disease which all men have.
"Sin, like a venomous disease, Infects our vital blood; the only balm is sovereign grace, And the physician, God." - Isaac Watts
The idea that sin is like a disease is found both the Old and New Testaments.
Isaiah 53:4-6
Matthew 9:10-13

The bottom line is that people do not become sinners because they sin. They sin because they aresinners. Well sin is a deeply ingrained problem for mankind. Brengle describes it as “a big dark something in him that wants to get mad when things are against him, something that will not be patient, something that is touchy and sensitive; something that wants to grumble and find fault; something that is proud and shuns the shame of the Cross, something that sometimes suggests hard thoughts against God; something that is self-willed and ugly and sinful.”
The NT calls this big dark something many different things but it is so real that Paul calls it the “old man”
If this dark something is not dealt with, then it leads to death. We know that Christ has stepped in and he has by his shed blood stopped this sin being life threatening but many Christians are of the belief that we will never be really free of “the dark something” in us, this “old nature” this “sin disease” this side of heaven. It will remain in you and war against you till you die. They are not altogether gloomy because they believe that the new life within you from Christ will help to subdue it and repress it.
Some of you here have diabetes, which without insulin would kill you. Modern medicine means that you can live with the disease but it is still a part of you. You have to manage it. At the moment there is no “cure”
But if we apply that spiritually, to me that is less than satisfying. Surely the gospel can go further than offering us sin management. Can we not be cured?
The New Testament seems to offer that possibility.
Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life” and he add, “and have it to the full” (John 10:10)
“If any man is in Christ he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor 5:20)
“You were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-24)
1 John 3:9 “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning because he has been born of God.”
The criticism against this view is of course that the Salvation Army teaches that once a person has been sanctified then it is impossible for them to sin. Doesn’t the letter of John also say in chapter 1:8 “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”
Let’s use an illustration. One of the tragic things we saw in Romania was babies with HIV. Many of them had been given blood transfusions of either infected blood or dirty needles and they were infected with HIV. There were then no effective ant-viral drugs and many of the babies we saw died with Aids.
All human beings are infected with a propensity to sin. Untreated and living in the world it is inevitable that they will be sinners. These days, the onset of Aids can be avoided by people with HIV if they have access to anti-viral drugs. It cannot yet be cured.
However for all people who are sinners, the blood of Jesus affects a total cure. Not only does it save them from death, it also rids them of the actual disease within them, if they apply it. They can be free, they can be whole again, they do not have to live with sin-disease any more.
However the virus of evil is still out there, sin is still in the world. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from sin but it does not provide us with an immunity to it. God does not take away our freedom to re-infect ourselves. He does not take away our free will.
It’s a bit like an HIV sufferer having been cleared of HIV choosing to engage in unprotected sex with strangers or taking drugs through a dirty needle.
The difference is now there is a choice. Hopefully I choose not to sin, before I couldn’t do anything else but sin.
We live in a sin contaminated world, we have an enemy who comes against us and tries to make sin attractive to us again. The difference is that if we have dealt with our “old nature” we are now fighting against an intruder from without; not an enemy within.
But we are not left alone in this. When we become Christians the Spirit of God comes to dwell in our hearts. God does not only take something out but places his life and power within. So when we are faced with temptation to let sin back in the Spirit of God within us resists that. The inclination within us now is towards goodness not evil.
There is a new gravitational pull in our lives. Sin used to pull us down, but now the Spirit pulls us up. This is why Paul encourages us in Ephesians 5:18 to be filled with the Spirit.

We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified that their whole spirit, soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Hallelujah!

God bless

Carol

The Jewel of holiness

2011-07-15T20:37:00.015+01:00

One of the reasons holiness is so difficult to define is not so much that it is a difficult subject or a complicated one but because it is so multi-faceted. When you look at in in the light of the Holy Spirit it sparkles with an array of colours, each one beautiful in its own way. If you ask one person what is holiness, they might say, “It’s being like Jesus” Another might say, “It’s being empowered by the Spirit.” Another might say, “It’s being set apart for Jesus.” None of those definitions are wrong but they only present one aspect of the truth. If we only talk about holiness in terms of being empowered by the Spirit, we might miss an important truth about purity. If we only talk about being set apart for Jesus, we could think that holiness is only about what we do rather than the transformation that takes through the Holy Spirit to produce a fruitful Christ-like life.

Over the next few days I hope to post some thoughts on different facets of the jewel of holiness based on a recent series we did at Pill Corps. So here is the first,

Sanctification.
The words "sanctify," "saint," "hallow," and "holy’ all come from the same reek root hagizo or hagiazo (ha-geed-zo) which are to do with separation. In the Bible sanctification has to do with separation from something and to something.
In our life with God this is seen in at least two ways. It is to do with the nature of relationship we have with God itself and it has to do with what we do with our lives as a result of that relationship.
When two people make their vows at a wedding, we say they enter into the “sanctity” of marriage. We say this because we believe that because God ordained marriage and anything that has God’s stamp of approval upon sets it on a higher level than what mere mortals think is a good idea. But there is a sense in which the couple also sanctify their relationship. One of the things they promise to do is to “forsake all others” There is a separation from all other romantic relationships.

At the same time we know that a marriage is not much of a marriage if all the arrangement is that two people agree not to fall in love with anyone else.

Marriage is more than separating ourselves from other people. Marriage vows go on to state that each party will honour, love and commit to one another in sickness and health, till death us do part.
In the same way, God calls us into a sanctified relationship with himself. He calls upon us to forsake all other gods and to worship only him. The other gods in our lives we know are not just traditional idols but anything to which we give love, above him.

One of the things that we need to establish in our lives is how exclusive our relationship is with God. Although it is possible to have a sanctified relationship with God from the moment of our salvation, many Christians only realise as they start to walk in their new relationship with God, how many idols there have been in their lives and that they need to consciously sever the ties they have with them.

For the new Christian it is their guilt and condemnation that at first occupy their attention and often only later do they see the need for further cleansing. The realisation of this dawns upon many people gradually. Others become aware of it in a moment of revelation by the deep conviction of the Spirit. However the revelation comes, decisive action needs to be taken. Often the biggest revelation that people have, is that the god they most need to remove from their relationship with God is called Self or the Ego.

Lifestyle

The second challenge for the believer is that we are called to live a life of separation from the patterns of the world and to follow a pattern of life holiness which has Jesus Christ as the model
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Romans 12:1, 2).

One of the things that has marked out the life of the Duke of Edinburgh, for nearly 60 years is that he has dedicated his life to be of service to the Queen. In doing so he put his own as a naval officer aside and commited himself to being his wife’s consort. Some would see that as a sacrifice, others would tell you that such is his relationship with the queen that it is something he would do gladly and with joy. However judging by the Fiona Bruce interview for his 90th birthday on BBC1 he will not tell you which it is.
Sanctification is about being useful in the service of God. To onlookers this dedication might look like sacrifice as in order to service God , some other pursuits may need to be left behind.

However for the Christian the desire to serve a God whom they love passionately makes it feel like a privilege. Their only concern is whether or not they are fit for purpose.
The truth is that they are not. In the OT objects set aside for worship were said to be sanctified. There were special ceremonies, a process by which they were fit for use. There is a need for them not only to be willing but also for them to be enabled.
Our lack of righteousness is a barrier to a relationship with God. But we know that that is where Jesus offers us hope. His shed blood covers our sin so that when God looks upon us, he looks upon us as if we were clean.

We sing about this in the second verse of the popular song “Before the throne of God above”

Because the sinless Saviour died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the just is satisfied
To look on his and pardon me.”

But how can we really be of service to God has only provided a way for us to be declared righteous but not actually righteous? It would be like declaring someone competent for active service in the military when the reality is that they are unfit, or declaring a car has passed its MOT when its engine doesn’t work.

God has done more than provide a way for us to be declared righteous, when we are not but a way for us to be made righteous. Salvation is a work for us but it is also a work in us.

For true sanctification to be really a mark of a person then there is a need for an inward work of grace to stabalise a wayward heart, to cleanse a contaminated heart and to equip and unfit heart
Here is the promise. "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

he state of entire sanctification is a state of total devotion God. It is brought about by the baptism with the Holy Spirit, which cleanses the heart and fills it with the Holy Spirit who empowers the believer for life and service. Just as we are powerless to save ourselves we are powerless to be as pure and clean as we need to be. The transformation of the heart is the work of the Spirit. How do we obtain the power we need for this transformation? The answer is that our purity is received in the same way as our pardon. It is by grace, through faith.

The result of the act of sanctification is a holy heart. You may make mistakes and do the wrong thing occasionally, you may say the wrong thing at times -but your heart’s intent is only for good. It is pure. It is holy.

God bless

Carol

God's Messenger: Amos (Pill Corps 10th July)

2011-07-12T15:33:00.003+01:00

Sunday Morning message outline (Alan Young)
It was a Golden Age, a prosperous time. The stock market was up, interest rates down and there was a housing boom. Enter Amos, with a message no-body wanted to hear. It was time to measure up. Amos 7:1-9

God would test the people of God to see if they were in line with his purposes What he discovered did not make comfortable reading.

God’s people were living in times not dissimilar to our own in the West. If God did the same thing among us today would the church today come out unscathed by the enquiry?

1. Spiritual Awareness
Officially religions prospered and worship was very polished but rather that being about connecting with God it was really about impressing other people whilst at the same time keeping God sweet. See Amos 4:5

Many celebration services today are planned to make the congregation happy rather than to please God. It is possible to focus on the presentation of the service more than on the presence of God.

Amos response was “Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come!” (Amos 6:1)

The people of Israel at that time also had the mistake idea that background, pedigree and adherence to a religion gave then animmunity to God’s judgement and discipline. Amos challenges that kind of thinking.

2. Lifestyle
People also separated what happened at the religious ceremonies from everyday life.
Judah and Israel had taken on the shape of the culture instead of giving shape to the culture. Amos addresses the issue of greed, promiscuity, excessive drinking, gluttony, enticing young people break their pledges of abstinence, the silencing of criticism and all that is before Amos even starts on social justice and corruption issues. Whenever we take the shape of the culture, our true identity becomes lost. Righteousness is sacrificed, holiness becomes obsolete and passion is extinguished.

3. Social Conscience
Amos is most famous in Scripture for addressing; social conscience. All the time they were at worship at those great shrines, singing their songs they were planning their exploitation of others for their own ends. Amos 8:5
Amos rages against the unfairness he sees in this society.

“They buy and sell upstanding people. People for them are only things- ways of making money. They’d sell a poor man for a pair of shoes. They’d sell their own grandmother! They grind the penniless into the dirt; shove the luckless into the ditch.”
Listen to this you who walk all over the weak, you who treat poor people as less than nothing, Who say, “When’s my next pay check coming so I can go out and live it up?
How long till the week-end when I can f out and have a good time. Who give little and take much and never do an honest day’s work. You exploit the poor, using them and then, when they are use up, you discard them.” (Amos 8:4-6 Message translation)

Wesley Campbell and Steve Court list what they call the 7 Deadly Sins against humanity in the 21st Century.

Poverty
It is estimated that about 800 million people live in the condition of chronic, persistant hunger and malnutrition. Every 3.6 seconds someone dies of hunger.

Children in chains
100-200 million children are forced to work worldwide, some as slaves and some to support their families.

Children on the streets
One third of the world population is under 15, about 100 million of them are believed to live at least part of the time on the streets. These are lives lived without parental love and guidance, without education and often in the context of sexual abuse.

The Sex Trade
Commercial sexual exploitation has not been defined as terrorism by UNICEF. Millions of children throughout the world are being bought and sold like chattel and used as sex slaves.

Aids and Plagues
Some 3 million children die each year from vaccine preventable diseases. No fewer than two thirds of todays 15 year old boys will die prematurely from Aids. The United Nations expects that 70 million people will die of Aids by 2022.

War
At the turn of the 20th century 90 percent of war casualties were male soldiers. At the turn of the 21st century 90 percent of war casualties are civilians, the majority of whom are women and children.

Persecution
While wars killed millions, there are also totalitarian regimes that have kill more of their own citizens. Many of these deaths were based on religious belief. The World Christian Encyclopedia estimates that 45.5 million Christians were martyred in the 20th century.

Issues of social justice are often tagged on if we have time, or spare resources. Amos points out that if we are not willing to deal with social justice issues then our worship means nothing , our religious practice means nothing and our personal walk with God is going nowhere.

It is not enough to bemoan the state to things?
Amos calls for repentance Amos 5:4
Amos engaged in intercession Amos 7:1-3
Amos demands righteousness and justice Amos 5: 24

Cell Questions
In Amos’ day the people failed to connect with God through worship. Why do you think that was? What helps or hinders your connection with God through worship?
“Whenever we take the shape of the culture our true identity becomes lost.” In what ways should a Christian be different from the prevailing culture around them?
What is your reaction to some of the statistics mentioned in the list of 7 Deadly Sins?
What are some of the ways that we can practically participate in the Salvation Army’s calling to “serve suffering humanity?”

God bless

Carol

God's Messenger: Hosea

2011-07-06T21:28:00.003+01:00

Pill Corps: Sunday 3rd July
Sermon Notes (Alan )
I read this about a married couple of whom it was said, “He took his wife for better and for worse and found out that she was far worse than he took her for!”
That could have been written by the prophet Hosea except that he started married life knowing exactly what kind of woman his future wife was. He had been told by God,
“Go and take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord.” (Ch 1:2)

God often asked the prophets to do some difficult things and God’s instruction to Hosea was not just to marry this woman and it be a marriage in name only; he was to “love her as the Lord loves the Israelites.” (ch 3:1) Hosea was to let Gomer not only into his life but into his heart, knowing that she would probably let him down, hurt him and bring disgrace to his family name.

God wanted to show Hosea that when his people went astray they not only broke his divine laws they broke his heart. God knew when he entered into covenant with them, that He would be faithful but they would go after other gods, despite their promises. Nevertheless he still went ahead such was his love for them.

Our friend Gram Seed often tells of his first reaction to the message that God loved him. “Why would God want to know a scumbag like me?” Gram has never discovered why God loves him, only that He does. The knowledge that God loved him, even when he was stealing, fighting on the football terraces, locked up in a prison cell and sitting in drunken squalor on a bench in the shopping precinct, redeemed him and transformed him.
God has never loved us on the basis of whether we were good enough or deserving. It is Paul who says, “Whilst we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly.”

1. Recognising the Problem
When Hosea considered his own marriage he realised that the basic problem was that Gomer was not really committed to it and Hosea saw that the people of God of his time had the same problem.
He used many pictures to describe them but we’ll look at two from the bakers shop.
a) A heated oven.
They were like a heated oven whose baker ceases to stir the fire, from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened. (ch7:4)
In the time when Hosea lived the oven in the baker’s house would be left to smoulder overnight, retaining some of the heat. In the warm atmosphere the dough would rise enough to be ready for baking. In the morning the oven would be brought back up to full temperature again ready for the days cooking. However if overnight the bread was forgotten the increased heat would cause the bread to burn and be destroyed.
This is how people are sometimes. On the surface things look normal, but underneath they are ready to flare up and destroy what they made. Gomer was like that.
She married Hosea and everything seemed OK but the longings for her old lifestyle flared up and ruined her marriage. Eventually what is in the heart comes out and declares itself.
It was the same with the people of Hosea’s day in their relationship with God.
On the surface they loved and served God, but underneath there was an underlying fire of selfishness that threaten to destroy.
Sin does not go away unless it is put completely out. Otherwise it smoulders and threatens to flare up again and God seems further away than ever.
The good news is that we have the means through Jesus to get rid of the deep underlying passion for selfishness that just will not go out on its own.
b) A half-baked cake.
In Hosea Chapter 7 verse 8 it says that Ephraim (which is part of Israel) is like a flat cake not turned over. The staple diet in the East then was thin flat scones or pancakes. They were baked by being laid on hot stones and then turned over just at the right time. If not done properly they could end up burnt black on one side and underdone and doughy on the other.
Perhaps this was how Gomer was with Hosea. She was uneven in her enthusiasm for marriage. She wanted the security but not the responsibility. It was how the people of Hosea’s day were with their religion. They took up a thing in a fervour of excitement and almost overdid the religious bit on the Sabbath until the joy was burned out of them and then for the rest of the week they underdid it. They failed to bring God into the picture at all.
There can be unevenness in our character when we don’t allow the Holy Spirit to do a thorough work in us and infuse our life with his warmth.

2. Redeeming the wreckage
The underlying half-baked enthusiasm meant a recipe for disaster for Gomer and Hosea’s marriage. When other men came along with their flattering attentions she yielded to them first with unfaithful liaisons and then with a life of open shame, eventually she ended up in the slave market.
In fact Hosea would have been within his rights to have Gomer stoned to death for the crime of adultery. Yet Hosea also felt God prompting him not to doubt in the face of well-meaning friends who say; “You’re well rid of her,” to go and do something absolutely amazing.
Read Hosea Chapter 3 verses 1 – 3
Gomer had got to the stage where she had sold herself into slavery in order to stay alive, but the only person who had any real claim on her was her husband.
He didn’t have to do it because she belonged to him anyway, but Hosea went and bought Gomer. He paid again for what was already his.
We wonder at the forbearance of Hosea – but Hosea wants to show that if that is how HE acted then how much more is the graciousness of God in the light of His people’s unfaithfulness.
And that is the story of our own redemption. God has a claim on us because He is our creator, yet He pays the price for our freedom, even though we are already His by right.
Through the light of the New Testament we see that God’s love is even greater than Hosea had imagined. For God was willing to buy us back from the slavery of sin, not with a few pence but with the life of His own Son.

3. Restoring the partnership
Hosea has Gomer back with him physically. She has been bought and paid for but Hosea knows she is not really his until she wants to be with his willingly. David Dalziel writes that; ‘Materially it was easy to buy Gomer back. A few coins, a couple of sacks of barley and she was like any other slave, but rebuilding the relationship was another matter entirely.’
Anyone who has dealt with a rebellious child, a betrayal of friendship or who like Hosea has known the pain of their partner being unfaithful - they will know something of his dilemma. However much we love them we cannot force the return of our love. The only power we have is to go on loving despite everything.
After getting her out of the slave market Hosea wisely leaves Gomer alone.
The Good News translation of Hosea 3:3 give us a clearer idea of Hosea’s attitude. “I told her that for a long time she would have to wait for me without committing adultery; and during this time I would wait for her.”
Hosea does not force himself on Gomer. His love is different than the cheap excuse for it found in the market place. What she has done, however she has behaved, her feelings still counted for something and Hosea respects them. Such love, such respect comes from God. It is the kind of attitude that God shows towards us.
When we reject Him, however much He longs for us, God does not force Himself on us. God has the power to make us do anything, but He will not force us to love Him.

4. Releasing the blessing
If she would return to her God then Israel would really benefit. If Israel would return to God. Hosea Chap 14 verse 5b GNB promises, “they will blossom like flowers; they will be firmly rooted like the trees of Lebanon. They will be alive with new growth and beautiful like olive-trees.”

This is not a promise just for the past but a promise God makes to all of us today. If we return to God He will make something of us. I for one want Him to do that for me because I make a pretty bad job of it on my own. But not only does our redemption release promise for self-improvement. Hosea gives us a picture of how God’s love releases blessing through us.

The one God loves will be a blessing to others. Hosea continues to describe this in terms of trees. He speaks of a tree’s scent and its shade. These are both things that do not benefit the tree itself. They are a benefit to others who are close to the tree. Both things make life for other people more pleasant.
If you have worked outside in the heat when there was no shade around, you know what I’m talking about. One result of God’s freely expressed love in your life is that you will be pleasant for other people to be around. I believe this is what is described as the beauty of holiness. When a person is in a right relationship with God and he is experiencing God’s love - that love overflows into other relationships.
Conclusion
I suppose this message is a very simple one. We might say it is primary school teaching. But perhaps it is not such a bad thing to re-state obvious and simple truths. We will never outgrow our need for God’s unconditional love or His grace. The more He makes of us, the more we realise that we are nothing without his grace.

God bless

Carol

Crisis?

2011-06-27T22:47:00.002+01:00

Yesterday Alan preached on Acts 12 (see yesterday's blog for the notes) and spoke about the church in Jerusalem intensifying prayer during a time of crisis. One leader had been executed and another was about to be. Persecution was on the rise and at the same time there were hundreds of new converts to disciple so they had plenty on their plate.

Well we have to admit at Pill that we do not have a similar crisis. For the most part, apart from an arson attack last year by one individual, we are accepted and supported by our community. From time to time, like all corps we have pastoral issues to deal with and organisational difficulties to overcome but at the moment (and perhaps I shouldn't speak too soon) there aren't too many bombs exploding in our midst. We are pleased at the spiritual progress we see among our people and the spirit of prayer that continues to grow. So what crisis do we have?

It was this quote from Pastor Ivan Casteel that hit home to me
"Anytime a church is not experiencing souls being saved on a regular basis should be considered a crisis time.”

On that basis we are in crisis. Despite our evangelistic efforts and all the praying that is going on we still await a breakthrough in the making of new disciples. The easy response to this is to "count our chickens" and be grateful that we do not have in fighting and no support but if we are truly the Salvation Army then can we ever be satisfied when people are not saved?
It is not about number crunching but it is about caring about the fact that the majority of our community do not know Jesus and are heading to eternity without him. It should bother us intensly.

Let every heart on the object be set
Lord give us souls, Lord give us souls
Help us to pray till the answer we get
Lord give us souls, Lord give us souls
Give us the faith that will not let thee go
Faith that says yes, though the devil says no
Lord thy salvation in this meeting show
Lord give us souls, Lord give us souls.

God bless

Carol

Night and Day (Sermon and Cell Notes)

2011-06-26T15:00:00.004+01:00

From his admission that he didn’t have silver and gold to give a beggar we know that Peter did not have a lot in terms of material possessions but there were some things that he possessed that he could count on night and day, week in week out, whether life was tough or a little easier.
Peter wrote that what he possessed in Christ was an inheritance that can never perish spoil or fade.” (1 Peter 1:4)
Acts 12:1-19 reveals some of the things Peter possessed that we see in this story.

1. The Peace of God
Peter seems to have been able to sleep peacefully in a very uncomfortable place. When Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:7 that we should, “Cast all your anxiety on him (that is Jesus) because he cares for you.” I have no doubt that he was speaking from his own experience. Otherwise how is it that faced with a trial the next day, which could end up with his execution could sleep?
Those three words, “Peter was sleeping” in v 6 are a great encouragement to me because they show how it is possible for a man to become more and more like Jesus. There was a time when under threat from soldiers, Peter had attacked them with a sword, there was a time when he tried to protect himself with words of denial, there was a time when fear of drowning made him question the quality of Jesus’s care for him and his friends. But now faced with death, just like Jesus slept in the boat Peter can sleep in peace in the midst of a storm of persecution.
When someone dies, they often leave a legacy. The legacy Jesus left his followers is found in John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Peace is our legacy too. It is Paul who shows us what we should do to receive the peace we have been promised. Philippians 4:4-7 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

2. Praying friends
Whilst Peter slept peacefully his friends were up all night praying.

a) They prayed together
They could no doubt have prayed as individuals about the situation in the privacy of their own homes but there is something powerful that happens when Christians get together to pray. That is why for our next Pray for a Day by praying we will be scheduling more corporate sessions of prayer as well as giving people space to pray individually.

b) They prayed earnestly
The word used for earnestly (v5) is the same word used for the way Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemene. It contains the idea of something stretched out to the limits, like a muscle would be during intensive training in the gym. They weren’t repeating platitudes they were out to win a battle for the continuance and existence of their church. They were praying until they got answers.

They were urgent because they recognised the seriousness of their situation. They were in a crisis situation. I read a pastor’s comment on this story on the internet which challenged me.
“We have an example in this text of the local N.T. Church in Jerusalem in prayer during a time of crisis in their church. And we can see also in this text that their prayer was miraculously answered. Anytime a church is not experiencing souls being saved on a regular basis should be considered a crisis time.”

Honesty, leads me to admit that on that basis we have a crisis.

c) They prayed specifically
The church was earnestly praying for Peter. They concentrated on the matter that was on their minds. In other words rather than praying; “Lord bless all the sick we need to pray for and all those people we know who are ill,” The Church in Jerusalem didn’t pray; “Lord be with all who are in prison tonight,” they prayed for Peter who was in prison.

3. The Plan and Purpose of God
Peter had seen the crucifixion transformed into resurrection. He had seen the Church’s most ardent opponent, Saul turn to Christ and become a passionate believer. He had seen the Jerusalem Church struggling under persecution not only survive but spread into Samaria and far beyond so he knew God had a plan.
Personally, perhaps he remembered the promise of Jesus that when he was old, he would have to be guided by others. Peter wasn’t yet that old. If he believed the promise of Jesus then he could be assured that God had something other in mind for him than his death the next day.
But trust must always be accompanied by obedience. Peter was given instructions by the angel which he had to obey and whilst the angel kept the soldiers asleep and opened iron doors, Peter had to get up and walk in order to get out. This is a picture of what needs to happen to us all when we find Satan wants to prevent us from fulfilling the ministry to which the Holy Spirit has called us. We must like Peter do the things He asks of us in order to be free. God so often opens doors for us which we fail to go through.

This was not the first time Peter had escaped from prison. In Acts 5:18 – 20 he had been with the other apostles and an angel had let them out with the instruction to go back to the Temple and continue preaching. However just because God had repeated a miracle Peter did not assume that he should immediately go back into the public eye as he had done before.
It is very important that we do not try to relive past experience. God very often wants to do a new thing in a new day.

Also we must leave our vindication to God as well as our survival. Peter may have relished the thought of showing up Herod but this time the right thing to do was to go in hiding for a period. Had Peter been impetuous, as in the old days, he could have triggered the wholesale slaughter of Christians. As it happened God dealt with Herod Himself, once and for all. Peter didn’t have to engineer anything.

Peter was Peter and there will never be another one like him.
We may find ourselves in vastly different circumstances to him, yet the wonderful truth is that we can possess what he possessed. The peace of God that passes all understanding is our inheritance too. It is found through powerful prayer, through trusting in God’s plans and not our own and it is being prepared to obey.

Cell Questions
1. What strikes you about the story?
2. What is your experience of the peace of God?
3. How much of a worrier are you? What do you worry about the most?
4. What is your reaction to the pastor’s statement that if we are not seeing people coming to faith regularly there is a crisis and we should be praying earnestly in response?
5. Who do we need to pray more intensely for at this time, in terms of them coming to faith in Christ?
6. Peter’s trust in God was accompanied by a willingness to obey him when God’s plans seemed to be following a different pattern. What assumptions do we make about how we should act when God has moved powerfully in our lives? What are the new things God is calling us to today?

God bless

Carol

Thursdays in Black

2011-06-23T10:35:00.003+01:00

Thursdays in Black is an international compaign uniting people who believe in the fundamental importance of respecting all human life without discrimination. It was started by the World Council of Churches during the 1980's as a peaceful protest against rape and violence, the by products of war and conflict. It is supported by Christian Aid.

Women do two-thirds of the world's work and get paid less than 10 per cent of its income. More than half of women in the world over the age of 15 cannot read or write and violence causes more death and disability worldwide among women aged 15 to 44 than war, cancer, malaria or traffic accidents.

I will be wearing my black T Shirt today which says:

I will be wearing black today in silent protest and in solidarity with women facing rape, abuse, torture violence. SHOW YOU CARE! as women have a right to be safe and free.

God bless

Carol

2011-06-22T20:28:00.002+01:00

I have decided to post our Sunday morning messages on the blog so that Cell Members who are online can have the notes prior to their cell meetings.

Sunday 19th June
One Day Acts 3:1-4:4 !

Life in the Spirit means any day can be a day for a miracle
The day started out as routine, Peter and John were on the way to prayers at the Temple and the lame man was on his way to his begging station. But when Peter and John and the lame man met, the disciples abandoned the prayer meeting and the lame man gave up begging forever!
What turned this routine day into a day of miracles? It was the fact that the disciples had begun living a life in the Spirit and life in the Spirit means any day can be a day of miracles.
The lame man had been coming to the Temple for years where God was believed to dwell but nothing changed year in year out. The best the people coming to the temple could do was to give a few coins to ease their consciences as they passed by.
Peter and John confidently offered the man much more.

Their assurance of the presence of Christ and of their position in Christ meant they could act with authority that Christ had assured them he had given them. (see Matthew 28:18-19)
And if we are filled with the Spirit and know the presence of Jesus and our position in him then we too need to recognise that we have all the authority to build God’s Kingdom and to complete the mission that He sent us on!

Life in the Spirit means any day can be a day we are called upon to share our faith
Peter and John were not setting out to do a bit of evangelism, they were just going to pray but when an opportunity arose to share their faith they took it.
Once again Peter is put in the position of explaining something that was already happening to a crowd that had come to see what was going on. I wonder sometimes if this is the problem in the church today. We ask a crowd to come so that something will happen, whilst perhaps if something powerful and life-changing was happening among us, we might have less trouble getting a crowd.

Not many of us have been lame and then healed but if we have had our lives transformed by Jesus then it should show and we will need to explain what makes the difference. Peter acknowledged the healing was down to Jesus. What happened to the man can only be explained by referring to Jesus.
What about you and me? Does it take Jesus to explain the reason we are the kind of people we are? We often come across people who are insecure, or aggressive or ambitious and we try to explain their attitudes and behaviour. Some will say “They are like that because of nature. They belong to this or that family. It must be in their genes. “ Other’s will say that they behave a certain way because of an event or a circumstance which the person is attempting to compensate for. All this may be true but a life of holiness is explained by one thing. Jesus.

Life in the Spirit means any day can be a day we meet opposition
Alan and I had a conversation earlier this week. We do talk to each other sometimes!
“Look at the weather today, says Alan. “It’s horrible, yesterday it was lovely!” And I said, “I can’t believe you. You are nearly 52 years old and you have lived in this country all your life and you are still surprised that the weather can change from one day to the next!
We live in a changeable climate, we should get used to it. There are just some things in life that we should expect.
When God moves there is always opposition. And that is certainly what happened one day in Jerusalem when a lame man got healed.
In the Western world, Christians rarely face persecution to the levels we see in other parts of the world. That does not mean we haven’t been opposed. Satan instead has used other tactics. He has attacked the western church with worldliness, selfish pride leading to compromise in an attempt to gain status and acceptance in the world.
It is a very successful tactic. A martyr can impress unbelievers with his courage and faith; the self-centered, compromising Christian thinks he will win the world by being like the world only to find that the world despises him for his spinelessness.
I have a conviction that complaining about our lost Christian heritage to the world will not be remotely as effective as repenting of our sin and weakness before God.
And having done that whatever the cost, we will speak up for Jesus.
Having successfully arrested the two disciples the authorirites were unable to arrest the influence of the gospel. The number of Christians just kept increasing.

One day.
What a day it was; miracles, crowds, evangelistic results, and preachers in jail. We don’t have many days like that these days but you know I believe that we could if we lived more in tune with the Spirit of God.
When we truly live in the Spirit, any day can be a day for a miracle. When we truly live in the Spirit any day can be a day to speak for Jesus. When we truly live in the Spirit any day can be a day when we might have to sacrifice our own comfort for the sake of the gospel. When we truly live in the Spirit any day can be a day when people accept Jesus as their Saviour.

God bless

Carol

Praying longer than the party

2011-06-05T02:31:00.003+01:00

It's 2.30am. I'm in the middle of a night of prayer and it is very quiet now. Until 2.00am our neighbours at the hall were having a party.

My plan for the first part of the night was to soak in pray in the tranquility of our prayer room but the music just got louder and louder until in the end I lay down in the corridor with a pillow over my head to drown out the noise. I must admit to thinking this is pointless, I might be better going home to bed but something in my head said, "Surely you can pray longer than they can party?" So I kept going and in ten minutes their music stopped and mine continued and me and the Lord had a party of our own! And I am blessed and I hope he is too! Sometimes you just have to push on through the noise.

Now back to work. Time to pray for some souls!

God bless

Carol

Win the world through prayer

2011-05-18T19:18:00.003+01:00

I don't think there is a day that goes by at Pill Corps, where one group or another are not getting together and praying.
In this last week we have been on our knees for all the requests that have come in from the UKT and we have poured out our prayers for the Salvation Army mission in Papua New Guinea and Kuwait. We have delighted in the fact that we are not just praying for the mission of other people but we are fully engaged in bringing the gospel to our own community to a wide range of age groups.
The quote of the week from one Mum last week has to be, "Jesus died for me, so what! I didn't know the bloke. Why should I care?" We think its great we are even having those sort of conversations.

It was against the backdrop of news of fellows salvationists and our own endeavours to share the gospel in our community that I read this quote from William Booth, speaking about the Christian Mission in 1876
"We are more and more struck as time passes us with the extreme difficulty of the task we have in hand. Thousands upon thousands listen to the Mission every day in the open air. Multitudes of these are impressed even to tears, and yet it is positively terrible to reflect how few after all, of those who have been accustomed to neglect the house of God are really gained to our certain knowledge for Christ every year. While in no wise disposed to discouragement, we feel very deeply the need for increased prayer, power, effort and labouroers, that larger, very much larger results may be realised"

(William Booth "Christian Mission Work, The Month, Christian Mission Magazine Vlll 1876 quoted in A New People of God - A Study in Salvationism by John R Rhemick)

The Christian Mission has not got any easier and in the west, at least we are not even seeing the results that William Booth felt were so meagre. However, like him we are not disposed to discouragement but feel very deeply the need for increased prayer.

How about you?

God bless

Carol

Messy Church

2011-05-05T21:47:00.004+01:00

Pill Corps is among the 400+ churches in the UK who now run Messy Church. I don't want to go into the dynamics of what Messy Church is other than to say that it involves craft, worship, the Bible, prayer and food. We run Messy Church once a month on a Sunday afternoon and in the three months we have been going we have seen at least 8 new families sharing worship with us. One of the best things has been the way it has developed a friendship with a Mum, who has moved to our village from India and is a Muslim. How great is it that we made an Easter garden together, which included a cross and an empty tomb and I had the joy of explaining to her what it all meant?

But I think our corps is messy anyway, regardless of whether we are joining in this latest outreach opportunity, labled Messy Church. Our youth group is messy, not just because they have a tendency to leave crisp packets and sweet wrappers all over the floor but because these unchurched kids are chaotic. They are loud, stroppy and are forever falling out with one another. Yet at the same time they are so, so vulnerable and insecure. I worry about the danger of one of them ending up as a teenage mum, whether one will be able to resist the lure of spiritualism and the anger issues of another are scary. We attempt to introduce them to Jesus and now and then we know that they sense his presence. We keep praying that the Holy Spirit who hovered over the chaos at creation will envelop them and bring each of them new life in Christ.

Sometimes I get up in the morning and I imagine what it must be like to know what the day ahead will bring. Wouldn't it be nice to have a tick the box kind of life, where a task could be started and finished and moved on from?

But for me, officership and ministry isn't like that. A phone call from someone I did prayer ministry with years ago reveals again the necessity of discerning the difference between spiritual oppression and mental illness. And I find myself telling her the same things over and over again. Why do good ideas for meetings come not in the planned prep time but on Saturday, right in the middle of Dr Who? A promise to pray for someone can turn into me nervously giving that person a challenging prophetic word, hoping that they will accept it graciously. When someone comes to faith, another is filled with the Spirit or a corps becomes excited about prayer, it's not just a result, it's another new unpredictable adventure.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a tick the box kind of life, where a task could be started and finished and moved on from?

As they say in Yorkshire, "Would it heck as like!"

No. Give me messy any day of the week.

God bless

Carol

A prophetic word for the Salvation Army

2011-05-03T15:15:00.003+01:00

It was my privilege to one again be part of the Prayer team at Roots this year. We had a great time and I am delighted to say that in the Prayer Room alone we saw God deliver people, restore people and get saved. I know that there were other conversions, people responding to the call for officership and freedom found in Christ in other settings at this event.

This did not happen without a quite intense spiritual battle taking place, which we believe was won through prayer. Whilst I was praying for the event, I believe that the Lord gave me a word about Salvationists finding their voices. This was given me in part before, expanded this week-end and this afternoon confirmed in my mind and heart.
Here it is.

Salvation Army. Sing to the Lord! Sing, sing, sing.
Release praise from your hearts. You must find your voices. Where are your songs?

You say that the Army is full of singing but I am not talking about the borrowed words from others, but the songs of love that are hidden in your hearts but never find their way to your lips. You know I am not talking just about music here, but expressions of love, the release of joyful hallelujahs and the testimony of agreement through a vocalised Amen!

You have lost a freedom you were known for. You were a people whom other Christians looked to for an example of a people who have the ability to voice prayers from the heart, rather than read from a book.

If you are embarrassed by my love, when among God's people, how will you stand for me when the world is hostile? If you stifle joy in worship, who will release it in the wider community? If you are worried about affirming that you believe the word of God by the shout of your amen before each other, how will you find the courage to declare my word with confidence when your belief is questioned in the workplace or the leisure centre?

My word says "There is a time to be silent and a time to speak." You often mistake the time. Of course I want you to listen but I am grieved by the times that I have to wait so long for my presence and my name to be acknowledged when you meet together.

It has been said that we are called to live as holy examples of love and compassion and "if necessary use words" It is often necessary to use words. I gave human beings the unique gift among my creation of being able to communicate through words. I want you to use them to speak to me, I want you to use them to speak for me on behalf of the voiceless millions living in poverty and under injustice. I want you to use them to speak about me and my promises. There are many speaking words in our generation but saying nothing very much. It is my word that brings hope and salvation.

Is this too hard for you? Hear again what I said to Moses
"What I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend to heaven to get itand proclaim it to us so that we may obey it? Not is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so that we may obey it?" No the word is very near you, it is in your mouth and in your heart so that you may obey it." (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)

Yet I know your hearts. I know that there are many among you who long to speak out their praise, their testimony and to speak for those who are silenced through oppression. You want to speak but you are tongue tied. You want to speak but you feel you cannot. It is not lack of ability to articulate that prevents you but the bondage of fear. Will you recognise that we have an enemy whose business it is to silence worship, testimony and the word of God? Satan has gagged worship, testimony and protest for too long.

There was a man that Jesus met who couldn't speak because a demon silenced him and he was mute. But here this good news, "And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute, spoke." (Matthew 9:33)
Hear this Salvation Army. We need to go to Jesus and he will deliver us too. Then it will be said of us, "THE ARMY THAT HAD BEEN MUTE SPOKE!"
And then it will be rumoured among the people of God, "Nothing like this has ever been seen."
(Matthew 9:33b)

God bless you

Carol

The event of the year

2011-04-27T07:11:00.006+01:00

Forget Royal Weddings, the event of the year as far as I am concerned has already happened and lots of people I know were celebrating it, out on the streets in their communities across the world.

It was Easter of course, which is not an anniversary, commemorating a past event but a celebration of the power of the cross and the living presence of a resurrected Jesus!

We arrived at our daughter's house on Sunday evening bursting with news of all that had gone on in Pill for Easter, only to find that Katie, her husband and in-laws were equally excited about the wonderful things the Lord had done at Regent Hall, where they all soldier. We found ourselves in friendly, but joyful competition to tell the best story.

We shared how our hall had been open all week, with people from our community coming in to experience out Easter Labyrinth, they shared how wonderful it had been to share Good Friday with a new convert, who had very recently come to faith, whilst living at the nearby Lifehouse. (SA Social Service Centre)

We told how Alan had placed a cross in the centre of our village and read the events of Good Friday from the gospels whilst one of our bandsmen sensitively played Man of Sorrows. They spoke of the march down Oxford Street, the huge crowds gathered at Picadilly Circus as the Easter story was told through drama and the amazing conversations about Jesus with members of the public.

We explained how the name of every person who gathered for our Good Friday meeting was read out, declared guilty and then offered pardon through the cross. They were full of the way the Holy Spirit had touched them as they joined in with and witnessed the response to the Bible message at the corps.

We were excited about the chaos in our hall on Saturday morning as we kept running out of Easter eggs as more and more families came for our Coffee morning Easter egg hunt and how thrilled we were that some of them went in and followed the Easter Labyrinth set up in the hall.

We laughed about the fact that our Sunrise service started way after the sun rose but that nevertheless it was a special time. Our daughter Katie, who is Singing Company leader rejoiced at how enthusiastically her children sang and "knocked the socks" off the congregation!

We praised God for our band playing Easter hymns around the cross and for the people who paused to listen. They couldn't wait to tell us how the songsters had sungthe Hallelujah Chorus at the open air in Oxford Street, passed out copies of music to the general public and invited them to join in. And huge numbers did and if I did gamble I would bet that was an Easter experience that they will never forget.

Pill Corps is in a village, Regent Hall in the heart of the capital, yet the joy of Easter touch both communities and I believe, changed lives.

You can see photos of Easter week at Pill on our Corps blog

http://pillcorps.blogspot.com/

Hallelujah! He is Risen!

God bless

Against the wind

2011-04-15T08:20:00.002+01:00

One of the books Alan and I have dipped into this week has been "Against the wind" by K.P Yohannan.

A couple of paragraghs and sentences stood out for me.

"A Christian man from Tripura, who had planted seven churches in three months was asked the secret of his success. He replied, "I pray as much as I work, I work as much as I pray."

"Most anyone can discipline themselves to perform all the right actions. What matters is where these actions flow from."

"In a job you give something to get something; in a ministry you return something that has already been given to you."

God bless

Carol

All over the place

2011-04-12T09:46:00.009+01:00

I feel at the moment that my mind is just buzzing with so many things. This is good if somewhat chaotic and I don't know how to translate all that is in my head into a blog so what follows in the next few days will probably be somewhat all over the place.
Ivory Coast
I was relieved to hear this morning on the news that Gbagbo has been arrested and there has been a call from the president for people to lay down their arms. Sadly this has come too late for my friend Solomon and his wife whose church has been scattered by the violence and its valuable work for the poor and for those involved in prostition ended for the moment at least. Knowing in part what it is like to see a work you have planted and poured your life into come to an unwanted end my heart aches for them. However I believe God has greater things in store.

Sunday
We had a good day of worship on Sunday. In the morning it was good to listen to people's heart as they shared their concerns for a needy world and to sense the passion among us as we sang, "For the world, for the world Jesus died, Jesus died All the world to save to battle we will go And we ever will our colours boldy show With a trumpet voice we'll let the millions know There's salvation for the world." This was followed in the afternoon with Messy Church, which although we don't get large numbers attracted another new family. In the midst of all the craft and mess there was opportunity to simply tell the gospel story.

Happiness
This morning, on the radio there was an item about Action for Happiness, a new membership organisation dedicated to spreading happiness. It says it prioritises healthy relationships and meaningful activities as a means to happier lives. It is based on the "new science of happiness and the belief that our mood can be altered." Much of their message is based around the idea that we are happier if we try to make others happier.

As a movement the Salvation Army knows that when people stop living just for themselves and do something for someone else it makes them feel better. Years of using volunteers to help with Christmas Day meals has proved that for me. How many of them have said they had had the best Christmas ever simply because they had served someone else rather than indulged their own appetites. So I am all for promoting the idea that priotising meaningful activity will enhance people's lives. We could all benefit from a society that was less self absorbed, less cynical and more helpful. However there is a big part of me that knows that human effort alone will never be enough to make people truly happy. True happiness is related to to inner security. If we don't feel safe we will never be truly happy. Whilst it is possible to cultivate an enviroment where we all feel safer because we are being nicer to one another the human race has a problem with selfishness which will always derail our best efforts. Happiness is totally related to trust and human beings will let us down. Of course some people will also say that they are happy and God doesn't come into the picture at all so why do Christians have to spoil everything by being so pessimistic about the human race. It is because optimism does not deal with the ego and the problem we have with the breakdown of our relation with God. Our fundamental need is to find our way back home to a trusting relationship with our heavenly Father so that we know that our life has eternal purpose and security. Severed from a connection with God there will always be a sense of grief in our hearts that cannot be filled by anything other than him.

Ignorance is not bliss. As the old adage goes a child playing with their toys in the sunshine in the middle of a traintrack may be perfectly happy and comfortable but they are also in great danger. The child may cry when you remove him from his "happy place" but you have saved him from death. Christians cannot therefore just promote happiness as a goal in itself. A person maybe happy but heading in a direction that leads to eternal separation from God which will result not in happiness but hell.

God bless
Carol

Ivory Coast

2011-04-05T22:25:00.004+01:00

Please continue to pray for the Ivory Coast. It has a special place in my affections since my visit there in 2008.

My friend Pastor Solomon continues to lead the All Nations Church in a poor area of Abidjan. The church is engaged in reaching out to very vulnerable people and provides training and employment opportunities to encourage many women out of prostitution. Many have been saved and are living transformed lives as a result. Please pray for their protection and the means to continue their mission.

God bless

Carol

The vision of corporate prayer

2011-03-15T21:52:00.002Z

We recently inherited a pile of old Leadership journals which were produced in the USA some years ago. The one I am browsing at the moment from 2001 is mainly about prayer and this paragraph caught my eye.

" Our individualistic culture robs us of a vision for corporate prayer. Private devotion is upheld as the ideal. But Scripture teaches that the church prayed together. And Jesus taught us to pray in a collective sense. The language of Matthew 6 is essentially , "When you pray, pray Our Father and "give us our daily bread" His ideal is that we pray in community. People who have considered this teaching have asked me "Which is more important, private or corporate prayer?" I respond, "Which leg do you need to walk on more, your right or your left?"

(by Daniel Henderson)

God bless

Carol

A Salvation Army Story

2011-03-11T07:30:00.010Z

On Monday it was our privilege to travel back to a previous appointment to attend the funeral of an amazing lady called Margaret. I have blogged about her and her great friend Myra before. Theirs is a great Salvation Army story. Margaret had been going through a tough time and was desperately unhappy. Her Salvationist neighbour Myra invited her to the Army where Margaret got saved and became a soldier.

Her life was transformed and because it was a practical option Margaret and Myra decided to flat share. They had a spare bedroom and this gave Margaret an idea. Soon each week that bedroom became the Sunday room and was full of children from the council estate enjoying Sunday school. To raise money for outings and equipment but also to meet a social need, "M and M" as we all called them, began clothing sales on the wall outside the Post Office. They stored the clothing in the flat so people from the estate could come at anytime if they were in need.

Soon all kinds of people were going to M and M's door for all kinds of things, not just clothes. A teenager who had been beaten by his Dad, a mother who had seen her husband taken into custody for child abuse and her children taken into care, an elderly lady who was in distress because her dog had died, another who had spent all her pension on the lottery. Having seen what M and M did for the children some of the women on the estate complained that there was nothing for them. A ladies fellowship begain in the lounge. It was soon packed to the rafters, so much so that when the DC visited he had to sit on the floor! In addition to all this they both worked tirelessly for the main corps and managed to look after our children and on a regular basis. The picture above is of Margaret, taken in a hospital in Romania that looked after babies with Aids.

And if ever people say they they do not have enough faith, enough energy, enough resources to do what God is telling them to do I say, "Let me tell you about two ladies........

God bless

Carol

The River of God

2011-02-20T14:06:00.004Z

This is Burnsall, one of the Young family's favourite places. The river is central to the village, it brings fishermen and tourist. Not only is it a great place to sit by, it is clean and accessible so you can get in it, even if it is a bit cold!

I love the word picture in Ezekiel 47:1-12 which speaks of a river that is central to life and which we are invited to get in.

The following is part one of my sermon from this morning, which my husband has encouraged me to blog.

The water that Ezekiel sees flowing from the throne of God represents the Holy Spirit being poured out into the world and transforming it. The river flows out of the temple from the south side or the right side of the altar. In the Bible the right hand side was seen as the anointed side, the side of power and strength. The right hand of God is where Jesus is right now. And it is from Jesus that the River of the Holy Spirit flows.

Mark 1:7-8 “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Jesus said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” (John 7:37-38)

In the original language there is a word picture created here by the author. The water began as a trickle, like water being poured from the neck of a small flask or bottle. As it runs from under the Temple threshold the trickle became a stream, then the stream became a creek, then the creek became a river then the river became a torrent, a mighty flow of water to deep and strong to wade across.
History shows us that this is the way the Holy Spirit was received by the world. In the Old Testament the Spirit came in a limited way and touch a few people, like prophets, priests and kings to fulfil a task, we see an increase in the activity of the Holy Spirit in the lives of people around the birth of Jesus and then with the day of Pentecost, the Spirit is poured out to all who would receive him.
This fulfilled the promise that God gave to Joel that “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh” (Joel 2:28-29)
We live in a time when the river is in flood. The river is flowing, the river is here.
Ezekiel first saw the waters. He could not and did not go into the water alone. He says “The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple.”

Who was the man in Ezekiel’s vision?
Ezekiel 40:2-3 "In visions of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a high mountain on who south side were some buildings that looked like a city. He took me there and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze; he was standing on the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand.”

This man then led Ezekiel through a series of visions of which the river is one. Who does he sound like to you? The apostle John had a similar vision on the island of Patmos, “And among the lampstands was someone like a son of man dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet, with a golden sash round his chest. His head and hair were white like wool as white as snow and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace and his voice like the sound of rushing waters.” (Revelation 1:12-16)

It sounds like a very good picture of Jesus to me. It was the man who took Ezekiel to the river, who offered it to him as a promise and a hope.
I for one find it hard to think back to before the time when the promise of Holy Spirit was presented to me. I only know that aged 14 I knew something was missing in my Christian experience and it was around that time that people at my corps started to talk about being baptised in the Holy Spirit and someone put a copy of Brengle’s Heart talks on holiness in my hands.”

I got in the river and started to wade out into the middle, until the day came when I actually surrendered to his current and found myself swimming with new power.
But look, if you will not trust the word of this Pentecostal, charismatic, happy clappy, blessing of holiness believing Salvation Army officer will you trust Jesus? Will you let Jesus take you to find the living water, just as the "man" took Ezekiel to the river?

Never mind it’s not something that you grew up with, or were never taught. Although I don’t know how if we know anything of Salvation Army history how we missed it. We are not being led to some new style of worship or denominational emphasis. We can’t have Christianity without the Holy Spirit. We certainly can’t have revival without him and you will never be free, never be full and never be fruitful until you get yourself wet!

It’s no good saying as a Salvationist that the outward ceremony of baptism is not a necessity because Jesus came to bring the inward reality of baptism in the Spirit if we don’t claim it ourselves. We’ve gone out on a limb over baptism for nothing if that is the case. Our stance on sacraments only stands if we lived a baptised in the Spirit life and our life really is Christ’s broken bread and outpoured wine!

God bless

Carol

Kindle the flame in young people

2011-02-18T11:19:00.003Z

Continuing from yesterday about children here is part of an interview from the Young Soldier November 1935 with the then British Commissioner, Charles T. Rich.

A journalist had commented to the Commissioner that there was a deep desire among young people for God and in conversation they had agreed that this yearning was like fuel waiting to be struck with a match that will cause the fuel to burst into flame.
In the interview for the Young Soldier the Commissioner was asked, “How do you think we can kindle the desirable flame?” This is the Commissioner’s reply,

“God will kindle the flame, I have said that our young people are thinking their way to God. They are not being driven by fear of what will happen if they do not follow the rules laid down by those who have gone before them. They are not enticed by promises of rewards. They are reasoning young people, looking ahead, counting the cost. I believe that the call of service and sacrifice will be "the match” that will kindle the flame. The service and sacrifice that demand their best, their all and because the young people are thinking, it is inevitable that they will hear the call. And then I think they will answer fearlessly, voluntarily, quietly without urging or waiting for the stirring of emotions. They will have the courage of their convictions.”

Interesting. I was talking to the daughter of one our soldiers who was visiting our corps last Sunday. She works for Rob Parsons who heads up a high profile ministry in the UK called Care for the family. They have just recently published or are about to publish a book called, "How to get your kids through church without them hating God." The thinking behind it is that some kids leave the church because of rebellion against God but many just get disillusioned with church. Many leave not because it is not entertaining enough, or liberal enough but because they are expected to be passive recipients of endless teaching. The cause is not presented as big enough or challenging enough and mission is seen as the preserve of those who know enough or who are old enough.

We, in the Salvation Army know this stuff but we have forgotten it. In our Corps, we are in a situation where the children of our soliders have, in the main already left. It is true that we have a a geographical challenge of young people moving away to further education and for work but when they have moved many have not gone on to link up with other Corps or churches. Somehow they didn't pick up the mission and ministry baton. Maybe that was because the older generation didn't offer it or model it?

We have a great group of people who are passionate about reaching young people and children for the kingdom. This week alone we have had Messy Church, held a youth drop in the the secondary school, had youth cell with a group of unsaved teenagers and tonight we have a kids outreach at the hall. Our whole corps is praying earnestly about the lost generations in our churches. The team that are heading up all these activities are all over 50 except for one and we are believing God will use us to win families and kids for Christ. I am praying that once they are won, we don't quench their passion for the cause of Christ by presenting a soppy discipleship and being over cautious about presenting the challenge of being a disciple as the greatest adventure of all.

God bless

Carol

Children and the war effort

2011-02-17T16:46:00.003Z

I was privileged to grow up in a Salvation Army home where I was never just a passive recipient of the adult ministry to me, but from an early age to get involved in ministry myself. I was expected to pray in the juniors, to sing a solo when my mother took me with her on speaking engagements and was the teacher of the other children at the tiny corps I went with my father every Sunday morning when I was 10 or 11 years old. Although it was probably down to the fact I grew up in a small corps and there was nobody else to do it, that I was singing company leader at 16 and corps cadet guardian at 18, I am forever grateful for those early experiences of Christian leadership.

Last week-end, Cadet Xander Coleman and I were discussing this fact that children can be evangelists and involved in the salvation war and were bemoaning the fact that we seemed to more reticent about this these days. We happened to be looking through a bound copy of Young Soldiers from 1935/36 at the time. The Young Soldier in those days, as well as an outreach to “non Army” children was also the equivalent of a young people’s Salvationist magazine and it contained constant appeals to the children to do their bit for the Kingdom.

“THE WORLD FOR GOD”
EVERY CHILD CAN HELP!

“THE WORLD FOR GOD”
Have you brought someone to Christ yet?

I loved this story from October 12th 1935
“During some special meetings in one of the centres of the Central Territory, USA, Commissioner W.A McIntyre had been outlining the special features of the “World for God” campaign including the Generals wish that we shall make it our aim to win at least one million men and women boys and girls over to the cause of Jesus Christ. At the Penitent Form that night knelt a lad who wanted to give his heart to God. The officer speaking to the boy suggested that he pray aloud. Responding to the request the boy prayed: “Dear Lord, you know we have to win these million souls: I want you to make be good enough to do my part.” It may be that a boy can only do one-millionth part of the great task but if everybody purpose as he did to do that part, who soon our work will be accomplished.”

And I loved this story too.

“The chief of the Staff and Mrs Mapp conducted the Sunday’s meetings at Regent Hall. In the Holiness meeting, on Sunday morning, three little Sunbeams were the first to come forward when the call was given. They were followed by a Life Saving Guard and a little later by a Young People’s band member who come to consecrate himself for officership. Later on in the same day this lad brought another boy to the Penitent From, thus commencing his work as a soul-winner. Two little girls who had been standing listening to the Open Air service followed the soldiers to the hall with the result that one of them came to the Mercy Seat.”

But what delights me even more is that my daughter is now the Singing Company leader at Regent Hall Corps and the children are still leading the way to the Mercy Seat in 2011. She delighted to tell me that, on Commitment Sunday, it was the children who very movingly immediately responded to the call to the Mercy Seat with their pledge cards and who set the tone of the response of the whole corps.

We dare not hold the children back. They have kingdom work to do.
“From the lips of children you have ordained praise.” (Psalm 8:2 Matthew 21:16)

God bless

Carol

It's been quite a week-end

2011-02-13T19:00:00.003Z

About half way through last week I was beginning to wonder how mad we must have been to sign up for Fastforward, the season of prayer and fasting taking place in the UK Salvation Army between January and May and on the same week-end launch Messy Church at the corps. Coupled with this Alan and I were away at Divisional Officers Retreat most of the week so preparation time was limited.

Now it is Sunday night and we're all shattered but feeling really blessed and excited about all that we have experienced in God's presence this week-end. The Holy Spirit ministered in a very gentle but firm way, through our times of prayer and worship. Our guest for the week-end Cadet Xander Coleman led the whole corps in worship this morning with just the right message and inspired response time. Overall we really felt that the Lord was affirming that our future is in his hands and that there is much to hope for.

And as if to say that the future starts now, it was just wonderful to see 20 adults, two teenagers and 9 children coming along to Messy Church. Ok the numbers are not huge but to us it was a real answer to prayer and represents a real breakthrough in the lives of some individuals.

So maybe it wasn't such a mad idea after all!

God bless

Carol

Fastforward

2011-02-12T23:39:00.004Z

We have spent the day in fasting and prayer. Whilst numbers of people praying are small, we are in earnest and we are keeping at it. We take courage from the fact that revivals often begin with small groups of faithful people praying.

It was humbling and a blessed moment to kneel in the hall with some of our prayer warriors and lay ourselves, our corps and our mission before God.
Our prayer is simply this

"O see us on the altar lay
Our lives our all this very day
To crown the offering now we pray
Send the fire! Send the fire! Send the fire!"

(If you know our recent history you know that there is only one kind of fire we want in Pill and that is the Holy Spirit !)

We look forward to what God has in store tomorrow and continue to pray that his manifest presence will be evident among us.

Please pray for Messy Church in the afternoon, to which we have invited local families to come. It's a new venture and a step of faith.

God bless

Carol

Revival and Fire

2011-02-09T16:09:00.002Z

A few more quotes on revival to whet your appetite.

"A man may study? What are prayers if the heart be not ablaze? They are the battles of the soul. In them men wrestle with principalities and powers...The prayer that prevails is not the work of lips and fingertips. It is the cry of a broken heart and the travail of a stricken soul."
Samuel Chadwick

"You never have to advertise a fire. Everyone comes running when there's a fire. Likewise, if your church is on fire, you will not have to advertise it. The community will already know it."
Leonard Ravenhill

"It will not do for us to go to Heaven by ourselves. We must be on fire, friends for saving others. To be workers will draw heaven down and will draw others to heaven. Without a readiness to work, the Spirit of prayer will not come."
Evan Roberts

"There are different kinds of fire; there is false fire. No one knows this better than we do, but we are not such fools as to refuse good bank notes because there are false ones in circulation; and although we see here and there manifestations of what appears to us to be nothing more than mere earthly fire, we none the less prize and value, and seek for the genuine fire which comes from the altar of the Lord."
William Booth

God Bless

Carol

Revival and Prayer

2011-02-08T09:43:00.003Z

Here are some thought provoking quotes on the connection between revival and prayer.

"Bear up the hands that hang down, by faith and prayer; support the tottering knees. Have you any days of fasting and prayer? Storm the throne of grace and persevere therein, and mercy will come down.” -----John Wesley

"You must pray with all your might. That does not mean saying your prayers, or sitting gazing about in church or chapel with eyes wide open while someone else says them for you. It means fervent, effectual, untiring wrestling with God...This kind of prayer, be sure, the devil and the world and your own indolent, unbelieving nature will oppose. They will pour water on this flame." William Booth

"A man may study because his brain is hungry for knowledge, even Bible knowledge. But he prays because his soul is hungry for God." ------Leonard Ravenhill

"Prayer is not a collection of balanced phrases; it is the pouring out of the soul. What is love if it be not fiery? What are prayers if the heart be not ablaze? They are the battles of the soul. In them men wrestle with principalities and powers...The prayer that prevails is not the work of lips and fingertips. It is the cry of a broken heart and the travail of a stricken soul." Samuel Chadwick

“Elijah on Carmel did not only pray; he kept his eyes open to see
the rising cloud.” – Theodore L. Cuyler

God bless

Carol

No short cuts

2011-02-07T08:46:00.003Z

I am an avid reader and I love stories. My biggest temptation in reading any book is to get half way through and read the end. Part of this is that I don’t want to waste my time getting involved with the characters and all their trauma’s if having gone through all that, the story has a miserable end. I like to know that any problems that the characters have are resolved.

Most revival stories begin with outlining the desperate state of the church, the lack of converts, the levels of morality and the prevailing social evils of their time. We tune in because in our own day we mourn the complacency of the saints, we are burdened by the lack of evangelistic results and the fact that God is ignored or mocked in our land. We identify with the people who turned to God and cried out for change and we are inspired by the fact that their need was met, their prayers were answered, their issues were resolved. The amazing outpouring of the Spirit upon them inspires us to believe such things might be possible among us.

However there is a huge temptation to by-pass the middle bit of the story. We misunderstand what people are actually experiencing when the Spirit is poured out. One of the characteristics of all genuine revivals is a terrible conviction of sin that grips people and their turning to God for mercy. What we want so often is blessing, approval and the relief of knowing that all our labours for the kingdom have not been in vain. In praying for revival are we prepared for the Spirit to convict us of our nakedness, poverty and lack of love?

The other thing is the compassion in us often wants that our friends who are lost, not to have to go through the agony of conviction. We would rather point out to them that they need Christ to fill the God shaped hole in their lives than confront them with the fact that they need his mercy because they have severely offended him. We cannot by pass the cross in our evangelism or in our praying for revival. If we pray for revival we are praying for God to deal with our sin as much as we are praying for him to bless our efforts.

If you have made it thus far here are some revival quotes for today.

"We often have a tinted view of revival as a time of glory and joy and swelling numbers queuing to enter the churches. That is only part of the story. Before the glory and joy, there is conviction; and that begins with the people of God. There are tears of godly sorrow. There are wrongs to put right, secret things...to be thrown out, and bad relationships, hidden for years, to be repaired openly. If we are not prepared for this, we had better not pray for revival" (Brian Edwards)

"Tell me in the light of the Cross, isn’t it a scandal that you and I live today as we do?” (Alan Redpath)

love and prayers

Carol

Revival

2011-02-05T23:22:00.001Z

At Pill Corps we are in a season when we are studying the word of God concerning revival. This is not an academic exercise but the desire to ground ourselves in the scriptures as we seek revival in our day.

Last Sunday we looked at Psalm 85 and in particular v 6 “Will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you?” Tomorrow we turn to Revelation 3:2 “Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of God.” The following week-end we are taking part in the Fastforward prayer initiative that has come out of the SA 24/7 Prayer network which directs us to 2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

During this week I am hoping to do a daily blog with quotes and thoughts on revival. So here goes!
At Cell Group this week we asked on a scale of 1-10 what each person’s level of faith was that revival In the UK was possible in our day. It was encouraging to see that most people were nearer to 10 than 1. Interestingly everyone had a slightly lower score when the question was changed to whether they believed revival could happen in Pill! Actually, I was encouraged at how hopeful they all were because it is always easier to believe that God can do miracles everywhere but where you are and we can all suffer at times from “ the grass is greener on the other side” syndrome.
I hope these following quotes will raise our faith level even higher.

“Evangelism, conferences, seminars, rallies, and the other activities of the Church, while important and necessary, are, however, inadequate in themselves to arrest the attention of an unbelieving world. God must come down from heaven and visit us in mighty Holy Spirit power. My personal conviction is that, in conjunction with His prepared people – He will.”Selwyn Hughes
(Revival – Times of Refreshing, p9)

Let’s get serious about being that prepared people.

And a final word from the Founder
“ God loves with a great love the man whose heart is bursting with a passion for the IMPOSSIBLE.”
William Booth

God bless

Carol

Listening to God's whispers

2011-01-06T10:05:00.003Z

Do you ever get the feeling that God is trying to get your attention about something? Yesterday was one of those days.
I read the next chapter in my book Intercessory Prayer by Dutch Sheets which as about praying protection for people. There was a particular bit about well-timed times to pray. The Holy Spirit often alerts people to pray for specific people, at a particular time and for a specific length of time. I identify with this as this has happened to me many times and sometimes I discovered from those people that they had been going through a difficulty or a challenge just at the moment I had been prompted to pray.

So then I came downstairs, flicked through the TV channels and seeing nothing worth watching for once went to the God Channel where Bill Hybels was preaching about God's whispers, being alert to his promptings and acting on the inward impulse of the Spirit.

In addition to this I also happen to be studying 1 Samuel at the moment. If there was ever a man who listened to the whispers of God it was him.
Commissioner Harry Read writes about him,
"Samuel emerges from these pages as a man of extraordinary sensitivity. From his earliest days he was open to God with an openness that seemed to increase rather than diminish. His relationship with God was so close that when the divine word came to him, he spoke with authroity, he knew it was God's will he was expressing and had no room for doubt. How we covet such sensitivity towards God!
Samuel was constant in his senstivity towards the needs of his people. He longed for his peple to match the plans God had for them and if he agonised over Saul he much have agonised over Israel. The cost of such senstivity is hight but to think God's thoughts is a reward of enormous consequence." (Words of life 31st January 1998)

Listening to God on behalf of others has been a large part of my ministry so perhaps he is just reminding me that in all the manic busyness of officer life I mustn't forget that.

God bless

Carol

Manger Scene

2010-12-21T07:42:00.006Z

Children are always delightful at Carol Services and those who came to ours from the Toddler Group were no different. They had the ability to really enter into the story of Christmas and believe themselves part of it, rocking the baby Jesus to sleep whilst the inevitable "Away in a manger" was being sung.

During the meeting we had given out battery operated tea lights which we invited the congregation to switch on during the singing of Silent Night, when they sang what they felt was a signficant line in the carol. This was obviously a bit above the heads of 3 year olds but they found their own way to respond. Spontaneously as the carol progressed and more lights came on, one by one the Toddlers brought their lights forward and placed them in front of the manger.

It was one of those "Ah" moments but in another a case of "and a little child shall lead them" Having received light from Christ, what better thing to do with it than to give it back to him, so that others might see him? What better thing to do with the new life we are given in Christ than to give it back to him for him to use for his glory and his kingdom.

Not without can I remain,
Nor my heart's deep urge restrain,
Trembling 'neath my love and pain,
I come, dear Son of God.
Now I bow me at thy stall,
Giftless, yet I give thee all;
Thou art Lord, and I am thrall
To thee, O Son of God!

(Arch Wiggins)

God bless

Carol

What the judge says

2010-12-19T07:37:00.005Z

For the last few months TV viewing on Saturday evenings for many has either been the X Factor or Strictly Come Dancing. When we have been in on a Saturday night, I have to say that I cannot bear the X Factor but my husband quite likes Strictly.

For weeks the former MP Ann Widdicombe was a contestant and a truly awful dancer. However the public kept voting for her, because in their view she was so entertaining. Fortunately by the time the contest was hotting up and all the other dancers in the competition were seriously good, Ann was voted off. The judges had always been pretty scathing about her abilities as a dancer even though they may have thought she was a good sport and liked her as a person. But in their eyes what matters in a dancing competition is the quality of the dancing and they as expert ballroom dancers themselves know what the standard is.

Many people have lots to say about Jesus Christ. In his earthly life he was accused of being a blasphemer, a traitor, a drunk and more than a bit barmy. That was public opinion and eventually the public voted him off and chose Barabbas. But the person that is perfectly qualified to judge who Jesus is, the validity of his claims and the quality of his life is God himself.

The writer to the Hebrews writes about God's judgement on Jesus.

"For which of the angels did God every say, "You are my Son; today I have become your father." Or again, "I will be his Fatehr and he will be my Son"? And again, when God brings his fristborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him." In speaking of the angels he says, "He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire." But about the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever and righteousness will be the sceptre of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; there God, your God has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy." (Hebrews 1:5-9)

God has declared Jesus the winner, the one to be acclaimed as Lord of above all and invites us to worship him.

God bless

Carol

Appearances

2010-12-17T17:13:00.004Z

We have been carolling today in our local service station. One of the people who had to appear through the door was the actress and comedienne Dawn French and yes she did put something in the box! My husband's claim to fame will now be that he has met Dawn French, albeit that the only words shared were, "Thank you very much, Happy Christmas.

Actually Dawn did not make an appearance, she was probably just answering the call of nature and trying to avoid too much attention. However she will be officially appearing I am sure on TV over Christmas, even if it is just in re-runs of Vicar of Dibley Christmas specials.

When Jesus made his appearance on earth, it wasn't in a grand debut on a West End Stage but in a backwater town, which could barely find room for him. Not many people recognised him as a celebrity or someone worth taking any notice of.

Yet this was a deliberate appearance. Titus 2:11 says "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men."

In the world of showbusiness the plea is always for something new, something different. In the world of faith, when Jesus appeared, something unique and amazing was displayed to the world.

When asked what made Christianity unique and different to all other world religions, CS Lewis, replied, "That's easy. It's grace."

He left his father's throne above
So free, so infinite his grace
Emptied himself of all but love
And bled for Adam's helpless race
Tis mercy all immense and free
For O my God, it found out me.

God bless

Carol

Upstairs Downstairs

2010-12-16T10:10:00.004Z

One of my Christmas presents last year was the DVD set of the original series of Upstairs Downstairs. This year the series is to be revised, this time set in the 1930's.

The drama contrasts the lives of the rich and priviledged family who live upstairs and their servants who work in relative poverty downstairs. The lines of demarkation between the classes were clearly defined. Some characters accepted this divide, whilst others like Thomas the chauffer longed to escape his humble lot and had ambition to rise in wealth and status. Rarely was there any idea that those upstairs might choose to go "downstairs" There was an episode where one of the upstairs characters got involved in helping at a soup kitchen and became instrumental in rescuing a former maid from starvation but there was no suggestion that this character exchange places with the unfortunate maid or that the family would volutarily give up their wealth and position in order for others to become rich. It was unthinkable.

And in many ways who could blame them. My mother was born in 1920 and grew up in a family where times were extremely hard. I learned from her, that there is nothing romantic about being poor. I remember her telling me that it was not so much going without things that was so tough, but the humiliation of having to go to the shop and beg for charity, of being ridiculed by teachers at school for her clothes and the assumption that because she was poor she would be a servant or a factory worker until she was married. As it happened she became a Salvation Army officer, which didn't improve her bank balance but widened her horizons beyond all expectations.

At Christmas we celebrate the unthinkable. We acknowledge the sacrifice of our Lord, who for our sakes made the journey from Upstairs to Downstairs. Paul says,"For you know that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich." What Christ did was not a romantic gesture. Jesus gave up more than the comfort of heaven when he came to earth, he knew the humiliation of poverty and the understanding of a persons true potential that poverty often cloaks.

Warren Wiersbe writes, "He united himself to mankind and took on himself a human body, left a throne to become a servant and laid aside all possessions. His ultimate experience of poverty was when he was made sin for us on the cross. Hell is eternal poverty and on the cross Jesus Christ became the poorest of the poor."

God bless

Carol

Dirty work?

2010-12-13T22:16:00.002Z

A few years ago whilst I was still involved in a Prison Chaplaincy team, one of the lads in our discussion group asked, “Why did God send an angel to tell Joseph to marry Mary? Why didn’t he do his own dirty work?”

It immediately occurred to us that rather than seeing the responsibility of telling Joseph the good news that it was OK to marry Mary and that Jesus was the Saviour as “dirty work” they would possibly have been as eager as children wanting to be chosen for a special part in the nativity play.

God does not always reveal the truth of the gospel directly to people. In fact he mainly relinquishes the task of telling the good news to us. He could retain the pleasure for himself but instead allows us the joy of passing on the news.

God bless

Carol

Brengle: The Angels Song of Peace

2010-12-11T22:31:00.003Z

"The first note of their song was “Glory to God in the highest. They put heavenly things first. God was foremost in their thought, then his glory; afterwards they sang, “Peace on earth and goodwill toward men……. The Christmas song of the angels, sung over the sleepy little town of Bethlehem, becomes a guide to us in these days. Our chief business is to give glory to God, to put him first in our lives, to have a divine jealousy for his honour. This spirit of seeking God’s glory first will make us fight sin. We will hate sin because it robs God of his own, of his right and his glory in man…….
This spirit will lead us out to warfare for God. He who possesses it cannot sit still while the Devil has his own way and while God is robbed and wronged. It leads him to go out and plead with men, exhort men, command men, compel men to turn from their evil ways to give up sin, to yield their hearts to God and to love and serve him.
This spirit makes sacrifice a joy and service a delight. Everything that man with this spirit has is at God’s disposal; he gives his whole life for the glory of his Lord. He only wishes he had a thousand lives and could live a thousand years to fight God’s battles.
O blessed is the man that is so filled with this spirit of heaven that he puts heavenly things first and sings on earth while the angels sing in heaven; Glory to God in the highest.” Samuel Logan Brengle (Love Slaves Ch5 pg 43-44)

God bless

Carol

Learning from angels

2010-12-10T21:28:00.001Z

Hebrews 1:6 says “And when God brings his firstborn into the world he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”

The angels therefore worshipped Jesus when he came, as the God-man into the world. They worship him though they do not know the joy of redemption. They know nothing of the shed blood of the cross being applied to them. How much more ought we to worship the Lord Jesus Christ, we, who were lost, hell-bound and hell-deserving, but who have been rescued because Jesus took upon himself the punishment that we deserve, and died on a cross? How much more should we fall on our faces and adore him?”
(RT Kendall Worshipping God pg 123-124)

The angels sing a glorious song
But not a song like mine
For I am washed in Jesus’ blood
And singing all the time

Singing glory, glory, glory
Glory be to God on high

(Edward Payson Hammond SASB 326)

God bless

Carol

Have yourself a merry little Christmas and pick yourself a sentimental Bible verse!

2010-12-09T21:35:00.008Z

I am always interested to hear what Christians quote as their favourite Bible verse. I have observed that most people quote verses that comfort them and they are often related to God being a source of strength during difficult circumstances. There is nothing wrong with that as such and like everyone else I have my favourite comfort blanket texts that I pull out when I am feeling a bit vulnerable.

Yet something niggles at me a bit about this because even people who do not profess to be born again often quote those same verses,for example, "The Lord is my Shepherd" or the love chapter from 1 Corinthians. I recently asked a Salvationist why they loved Jesus and their reply was that it was because he was always there for them. That is true but so is the NHS when we are sick and 24 hour Tesco's when we need a pint of milk! Do we not love Jesus for more than the fact that he is a reliable friend to whom we can off load our worries and whom we hope will solve our problems?

Sometimes whilst we're having ourselves a merry little Christmas, celebrating what a nice person Jesus is to have around, I worry that the relationship many people in the Church have with Jesus seems to by pass the whole point of the incarnation. How can we forget the fact that Jesus saved us from hell by going through hell for us?

Paul never did. Years after his conversion, his salvation was still at the forefront of his mind. He still couldn't get over the fact that the grace of the Lord was "poured out on me abundantly" If he had a favourite saying I wonder if it was this, "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst."
(1 Timothy 1:15)

And whilst I am in full flow, it also concerns me that the favourite verses often quoted are those that help us feel safe and secure rather than ones which express our aspirations after holiness or the ones which urge us towards fulfilling our divine calling to reach the lost. I haven't heard many people say their favourite verse is "I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus." (Ph 1:14) or "Therefore since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves with the same attitude." (1 Pet 4:1)

I am sure that I am over stating my case but this is a plea to leave behind sentimentality. There is plenty that is sentimental about Christmas, there is nothing at all sentimental about the incarnation. Jesus did not come so we could quote gooey verses about him. He came into the world to save sinners and make them holy.

God bless

Carol

What if?

2010-12-08T20:43:00.001Z

What if the incarnation hadn't happened?

“If the babe had not been laid in a manger, then the Man would not have been nailed to the tree, and the Lamb that was slain would not have taken his place on the everlasting throne.”

Bramwell Booth (Trumpets of the Lord p 360)

God bless

Carol

Who?

2010-12-07T22:24:00.002Z

Luke 2:11 Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord.

Who is he in yonder stall
At whose feet the shepherds fall

Tis the Lord, O wondrous story
This the Lord the king of glory
At his feet we humbly fall
Crown him, crown him Lord of all

God bless

Carol

What?

2010-12-06T22:28:00.001Z

What did Jesus come to do?

"Jesus Christ came to make the great laws of God incarnate in human life; that is the miracle of God’s grace. We are to be written epistles “known and read by all men.” There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by his Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession."

(Oswald Chambers Daily Thoughts for disciples Dec 27th)

God bless

Carol

Why?

2010-12-04T22:10:00.000Z

Ephesians 2:4 “But because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.”

As little children we would dream of Christmas morn
And all the gifts and toys we knew we’d find
But we never realised a baby born one blessed night
Gave us the greatest gift of our lives

We are the reason that he gave his life
We were the reason that he suffered and died
To a world that was lost he gave all he could give
To show us a reason to live

As the years went by we learned more about gifts
And giving of ourselves and what that means
On a dark and cloudy day a man hung crying in the rain
Because of love, because of love

I’ve finally found a reason for living
It’s in giving, every part of my heart to him,
In all that I do, in all that I say
I’ll be giving my all just for him
For him.

(by David Meece)

God bless

Carol

Where?

2010-12-03T10:52:00.002Z

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea….. (Matthew 2:1)

This year, weather permitting there will be people making Christmas journeys, travelling to see friends or for many going home for the celebration.

Christmas journey's also took place the first time around. Joseph and Mary left home and security, the shepherds did not have far to travel but they left their sheep without care and protection on the hillside. The wise men left their work in the hands of others and the comfort of their own culture.

But they all came to Bethlehem.

Bethlehem became the central point. It was where the Son of God was born, where he first chose the reveal himself to the world. At first it seems a strange place and we might think God didn't get his logistics right. But God had had Bethlehem in mind for a long time.

Micah 5:2 “But you Bethlehem Ephrathah though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

The connection of Bethlehem with King David link it with promises of the Messiah and the name literally means "house of bread" How applicable for a baby who grew to describe himself as the bread of life to be born there.

Had the Son of God been born in the temple, he could have grown up as a Pharisee. There may have been room at a palace but that would have opened him up to the accusation that it is all very well for him to be spiritual he doesn't have to work for a living. The wise men could visit a humble house but a shepherd would not have been allowed anywhere near a palace. Neither were truly welcome at the temple.
As it was the place where Jesus was born was open to all. It wasn't just the location, shepherds belonged to the hills and wise men to universities but they were drawn together into a common bond by the child who they believed to be a king.

I have always loved this quote, “Bethlehem, the place where God was homeless but where all people are at home.”

E Stanely Jones wrote, “When the prodigal son was in the far country he “joined himself to a citizen of that country”; but he himself never became a citizen, he was never naturalized. He knew that it was not his homeland. He was out of joint, orphaned, estranged, starved and homesick. Only when he was in his Father’s arms, a member of his father’s household did he feel he was where he belonged. The only sickness is homesickness. A strange nostalgia is upon humanity and homesickness for God is responsible for most of our other sicknesses, mental, spiritual, physical corporate. God is my home. When I am in him I am at home. When I am out of him I am away from home. I am homesick.”

Let's use the Christmas time to pray again for the many prodigals who need to come home to God through Christ.

God bless

Carol

When?

2010-12-02T17:22:00.001Z

Galatians 4:4 “When the time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under law.”

"When we flow in the Spirit we reflect God’s timing: never too late, never too early, but always right on time."(RT Kendall)

“In our day, with family planning clinics offering convenient ways to correct “mistakes” that might disgrace a family name it is a point of fact, extremely improbable under existing conditions that Jesus would have been permitted to be born at all. Mary’s pregnancy, in poor circumstances and with the father unknown, would have been an obvious case for an abortion; and her talk of having conceived as a result of the intervention of the Holy Ghost would have pointed to the need for psychiatric treatment, and made the case for terminating her pregnancy even stronger. Thus our generation, needing a Saviour more, perhaps than any that has ever existed, would be too humane to allow one to be born.”

(Malcolm Muggeridge, quoted by Philip Yancy in The Jesus I never knew pg 30)

God bless

Carol

Advent Blogs

2010-12-01T19:09:00.002Z

It is my hope to post each day during Advent. To kick off I would like to look for a few days at different questions concerning the coming of Christ with quotes from some of my favourite writers and preachers.
So here goes with
How?

"How will this be, “Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34)

The birth of Jesus came about through supernatural means. His conception was miraculous. Mary was “found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1v 18)
The relationship of his mother and earthly father was saved through an angel of the Lord becoming a miraculous marriage counsellor to Joseph. “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:20)The child will bring about the miracle of salvation. “You are to give him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)
This would be a miraculous fulfilment of Bible prophecy as recorded in Isaiah 7:14“The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

(From “The Supernatural power of Christ’s birth” by Ray Ellis Sermon Central)

God bless

Carol

Age in general and the General's age

2010-11-25T09:23:00.002Z

According to an article my husband Alan tore out of a magazine at his sisters house, the middle aged brain is smarter that you'd expect. For years it was believed that our brains peaked in our mid 20's but now it is believed by experts that we are cleverest between the ages of 40 and 65!

They also say the mid-life crisis is a myth and that our sense of well being increases with age and we become more optimistic. By the time we reach this age our brains tend to focus more on what can be done rather than learning what we should be afraid of.

If all this is true, and being 50 myself I of course would love to think it is so, is it a good case for the Salvation Army to consider re-evaluating the age at which a candidate is most suitable to be elected General?

What do you think?

God bless

Carol

Tingling ears and streams in the wasteland

2010-11-15T21:46:00.012Z

We had a blessed day at our recent Pray for a Day. I was led to several scriptures during the day and with them a real sense that we are on the brink of something new that the Lord will do among us.

Samuel said to the Lord, "Speak Lord you servant is listening, and God replies, "See I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle." (1 Samuel 3:11)

It is probably just me but I found the image quite funny. I thought that what makes someone ears tingle is a clip around the ear or being out in extremely cold weather. In my imagination then, there are loads of people with bright red ears, jumping up and down shouting "Ow, what was that? I wish I'd worn me ear muffs!"

But I think the message really was that God was going to do something that people will not be able to ignore. In fact when I looked up the verse in The Message it said, "I'm getting ready to do something in Israel that is going to shake everyone up and get their attention."

Two others verses that leapt out at me when I was looking for something else were Isaiah 43:18-19 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." The other one was Joshua 3:5 "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you."

I do pray that God will move among us in a powerful way. That is an exciting thought, whilst at the same time a challenging one, because when God moves, he shakes us out of our comfort zones. The key is to consecrate ourselves and to be ready.

Just for interest here are some pictures of Pill Corps Prayer Room and various prayer stations around the hall.

God bless

Carol

Pray for a Day Pill Corps

2010-11-11T09:35:00.002Z

Pray for a Day is a bi-monthly event held at Pill Corps where we have the hall and prayer room open from 9am -9pm. Our folks call drop in during those hours and simply pray.

The next Pray for a Day is:

FRIDAY 12th NOVEMBER 2010

Usually we recieve more than 100 requests for prayer from all over the UK Salvation Army. Our usual means of communicating our day is no longer available to us so we are using every other means possible to let the people know that we are willing to pray for them.

So if you are reading this blog and would like prayer, get in touch, either through a comment, me on facebook or contact alan.young@salvationarmy.org.uk via email.

Every request is prayed for on the day, followed up in Sunday worship where everyonde attending is given a prayer request to pray for in the meeting and later at home.

We have had great feedback and our folk love doing this. As a small village community we feel in the worlds of Wesley Duewel that we are "touching the world through prayer."

God bless

Carol

It's like that because of Jesus

2010-11-02T22:32:00.004Z

We have have recently returned from a short holiday in the Yorkshire Dales and a brief visit on the way home to the Peak District. I don't think I have ever seen such stunning Autumn colours as we saw there this year. Apparently the trees are particularly sensational this year because the UK had a long drought last spring and then a wet, cool late summer. I just know that

it is brilliant. By the way the photo is from the internet but what we saw was equally spectacular.

Before we went away it was my turn to preach on Colossians 1:15- 20 which is all about the supremacy of Christ. V16 says of him, “For by him all things were created; all things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers of rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him."

Now of course creation involves the work of the whole Trinity. Pastor Ray Stedman, says that “It is proper to say that the Father willed there should be a creation. All the initiatory movements of history begin with the Father. He willed it. The Son, then, planned it. He programmed it and designed it, even to its slightest detail as its Architect and Designer and the Holy Spirit is the executor: He carried it out. He made it actually appear, according to the plan and program of the Son.”
What he is saying here is that when we see the beauty, the order and the wonder of the world we have Jesus to thank. The world is powerful and beautiful and wonderful because he made it that way. Bishop Tom Wright writes, “When the lavish and generous beauty of the world makes you catch your breathe, remember it is like that because of Jesus.”

God bless

Carol

Shamgar, who is he?

2010-09-28T07:46:00.002+01:00

I reckon not many people would even hazzard a guess about who this guy, Shamgar is. If they are of a certain age and live in the Uk they probably would say he was a dead racehorse! I've read the Bible through a good few times and I'll admit that I might have read his name but who or what he did has escaped me until my recent read through Judges.

There are only two references to him. Judges 5:6 tells us that he lived at the time of Deborah during a period when Israel was in a weak position and her enemies had confiscated all the weapons in the land. "War came to the city gates and not a shield or a spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel ."

This however did not deter Shamgar. With the spirit of the British Home Guard in WW2, he used what he had to hand and turned it into a weapon to defend his home and family. Chapter 3:31 says Shamgar struck down 600 Philistines with an ox-goad. An ox goad was a strong pole, about 8ft long with a sharp metal prod at one end and a spade at the other for cleaning dirt off a plough.

Warren Wiersbe says, "Instead of complaining about not possessing a sword or spear Shamgar gave what he had to the Lord and the Lord used it. Joseph Parker said, " What is a feeble instrument in the hands of one man is a mighty instrument in the hands of another, simply because the spirit of that other burns with holy determination to accomplish the work that has to be done."

There are a lot of excuses made among God's people that they cannot do the work for God they want to do because they don't have the resources of people, money, buildings, technology, talent or experience and they give up. Now there certainly should have been some questions asked as to why the people of God had got themselves into the position where their enemies had so much control over them. Judges 5:8 tells us that the situation arose because of idol worship among the people "When they chose new gods war came to the city gates." It is important to examine the reasons for lack of success and oppression of God's people by the world around it. But I also thank God for faithful people who carry on fighting whilst others have given up and investigations is taking place. For example, I got saved as a child, despite the fact that there was not widescale revival where I lived and at a time when the Church in the UK was declining rapidly. How did that happen? People around me didn't give up, they used what they had to hand to teach and preach the gospel.

And whilst Shamgar held on and fought with what he had, at the same time God was raising up Deborah, who did not just hold on but took back what the enemy had stolen.

Keep fighting and keep on believing for greater things.

God bless

Carol

Left handed hero

2010-09-24T16:33:00.003+01:00

Being one of the minority of the population who is left handed I was delighted to find the Bible has a left handed hero, called Ehud. His fascinating story is found in Judges 3:12-30. It has all the hall marks of a spy thriller or a murder mystery.

Apart from it taking me a while to learn to peel potatoes and a tendency to smudge my work if I am writing with ink being left handed has never really been a problem for me. It does irritate my husband sometimes that if he uses the computer after me he has to move the mouse to the right side.

However in history left handed people have often been the target of prejudice. In most European languages, including English, "right" is used not only to signify direction but also a sense of what is "correct", "authority" and "justice". In German, "links" means "left" as well as "sly" and "devious". In China the left side is the bad side.
Perhaps the most palpable modern example of prejudice came with the famous 1960s BBC TV test card which showed a girl playing noughts and crosses with her toy clown. When it was realised that she was holding the piece of chalk with her left hand, the story goes that BBC executives had the picture reversed to make her right-handed.
Until relatively recently, such was the prejudice against left-handers that children who displayed this trait were often forced to use their right hand and punished by having their left hand tied to their chair to stop them from using it.

It is unclear from the reading of Judges whether Ehud was simply left handed or that he was maimed in is right hand. Either way the writer seems to suggest that Ehud was perceived to be a person with a disability, who was not much of a threat and who was not much use. However whilst the enemies of Israel at that time completely under-estimated him God had no such prejudice and he chose Ehud to lead his nation to a glorious victory.

I love the fact that the lables, the stigma, the limitations that society puts upon people, do not affect God's willingness to choose them or his ability to use them.

I'm off to do my ironing, ambidextrously!

God bless

Carol

2010-09-22T19:47:00.002+01:00

Oh no Judges!

I have to admit that I have never been that excited about the book of Judges. It's all a bit bloodthirsty for me but as I finished Joshua and Judges is on the next page I decided to tackle it again.
And rather than skim quickly over them I am taking a bit of time to look at some characters I had never given much attention to before. And the first one is Othniel.

He is overlooked in the list of famous leaders of Israel. Maybe that was because his brother was the great man of faith, Caleb and he lived in his shadow. He could have resented this but instead Othniel seemed to value the heritage of faith in the promises and power of God that he had witnessed in his famous relative. Other people of his generation, sat back and didn't go on claiming the inheritance of the Promised Land but Othniel responded readily to that challenge and in faith took Kiriath Sepher on his own.

Other people of his generation compromised but Othniel stayed focussed on God's commands and didn't intermarry. He reminds of the need to stay true to our God given inheritance of faith, even if it seems we are going against the tide.

Thus it was when at last the people of God realised their desperate need for deliverance God used Othniel to save the day. I like the fact that when he could have just manned the defences and made Israel secure again, we are told that the Spirit of God came upon Othniel so that he became Israel's judge and he went to war. The role of the Judge meant that he rescued the people from their enemies and he also addressed the domestic affairs of the people. But Othniel did not just settle for keeping Israel's enemies at bay or sorting out the people's problems we are told he also "went to war" In other words he went on the offensive in order to fulfill God's command to claim the Promised Land. He never lost his pioneering spirit.

We need God to raise an Othniel in our day. Someone who will not say, all we can do is hold on. Someone who won't be so caught up in dealing with the saints that they cave in under the weight of their problems and concerns. We need the Spirit of God to come upon an "Othniel" who will go to war!

Warren Wiersbe says that in Judges the key to new leadership being raised up is that the people cried out to the Lord and the key to that leaderships effectiveness was none other than the Spirit of God.

God bless

Carol

Home and Abroad

2010-08-25T20:34:00.003+01:00

We have been abroad.
We've been to cities, towns and seasides,
We've visited castles, churches, museums, shops, parks and zoos,
We've walked till our feet were sore and sat on the beach until our skin went pink
We've read lots of books, ate lots of food and got up really late.

And in case you are wondering we did all this in Portugal in the last two weeks. It has been great to do all the above but the blessing of being Christians and Salvationists is that we have had the added joy of that unique thing called fellowship. We met up with old friends but also felt at home in Lisbon Corps with people we had only just met, sharing something more than interests or experiences but having a bond of faith, purpose and hope.

Now we are back home. We won't be doing very much gadding about castles and museums for a while. It's back to work today and it felt good to be back in harness after a lovely break. We have returned home to a different situation than usual, in that the damage caused by the arson attack on our SA hall has been quite substantial. There is a lot of sorting out and cleaning to do. Credit must go to Pete, our CSM for his hard work and for manfully holding the fort whilst we have been away. The Corps are supporting one another during this diffcult time, fellow Christians have been right by our side and the village community have also been very gracious and helpful.

So fellowship and community have really been highlighted for me in recent days, both at home and abroad. Perhaps I have noticed this more because I have just finished reading Reaching Out by Henri Nouwen, a book about solitude and hospitality. He writes "When hostility is converted into hospitality then fearful strangers can become guests revealing to their hosts the promise they are carrying with them, Then, in fact the distinction between host and guest proves to be artificial and evaporates in the recognitio of the new found unity."
"It belongs to the core of a Christians spirituality to reach out to strangers and invite them into our lives."

God bless

Carol

Business as usual

2010-08-08T17:34:00.005+01:00

At approximately 4.30am this morning an arsonist set fire to Pill Corps worship hall causing quite extensive damage. Thankfully there was no-one in the building and no one was hurt. Fire doors prevented the blaze extending into the community hall, kitchen and upstairs area.

We are particularly thankful that this did not happen earlier in the week when the hall was full of children.

At 10.30am the Corps met for worship in good Army style in the open-air, to declare that we will rejoice in the Lord always and that it is business as usual in terms of our determination to lift the name of Jesus high in our community.

There was something quite moving about singing "I believe we shall win if we fight in the strength of the king" and seeing our folk gathering in small groups to pray with one another and to pray for the families of the medics killed in Afghanistan, who are known personally to our local Baptist minister and which puts our property problems into perspective.

We are now going on holiday but judging by the support we have already received from our brothers and sisters in Christ, we know that our folks will "keep calm and carry on!"

God bless

Carol

Light Factory

2010-08-05T22:13:00.003+01:00

(Interviewing Lazarus!)

We're all exhausted but yet again we have had a brilliant week doing Pill Churches Together Holiday Club, hosted by the Salvation Army. Approximately 50 children enjoyed 4 mornings of fun filled activity whilst learning about how Jesus is the light of the world. And tonight we had a packed hall for the final celebration as the families came together to see their children get their certificates and prizes.

I'm sure the families will be hoping that the children will soon stop singing "Let your light shine Whoa, Let your light shine Whoa and let Jesus shine through you, but we are praying they will never forget who Jesus is and that he will shine in their hearts forever.

God bless

Carol

Quiet times

2010-07-24T09:06:00.003+01:00

My life is filled with activity. Toddler groups, cell meetings, visits, planning meetings, holiday club preparation, study, reports and chores (why is the ironing basket never empty?) My life is busy with doing but hopefully not consumed by it. There are quiet times.

We have been looking recently at the spiritual discipline of solitude and one of our soldiers has loaned me Reaching Out by Henri Nouwen. It is a blessing. Here is one quote,

"Without the solitude of heart, the initmacy of friendship, marriage and community life cannot be creative. Without the solitude of heart, our relationships with others easily become needy and greedy, sticky and clinging, dependent and sentimental, expolitative and parasitic, because without the solitud of heart we cannot experience others as different from ourselves but only as people who can be used for the fulfillment of our own, often hidden needs."

And now I have finished Deuteronomy it's Joshua, here we go!

It is a bit ironic that perhaps I am studying solitude on the one hand and the action packed life of Joshua on the other. But maybe its not so ironic after all. Maybe Joshua relfects very well the need to take care of the inner life in the midst of working out a demanding call. He was commissioned to lead the people, defeat his enemies and claim territory for God. I can see some parallels there with Christian leadership.

Yet we actually meet Joshua in chapter 1 of his book having his quiet time with God. God is talking and Joshua is listening. I suppose Joshua 1:9 is one of the more quoted promises of the Bible but if we look back at v 8 we find a warning that success depends upon spending time absorbing the word of God that he had given to Moses.
"Do not let this Book of Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night , so that you may be careful to do everything written in it."

Warren Wiersbe makes this comment, " It wasn't enough for the priests to carry and guard this precious book (the Book of the Law) Joshua had to take time to read it daily and make it part of his inner person by meditating on it. The Hebrew word for "meditate" is "mutter" It was the practice of the Jews to read the scripture aloud and talk about it to themselves and to one another. This explains why God warned Joshua that the Book of the Law was not to depart from his mouth."

I think I'm going to love doing Joshua almost as much as Deuteronomy!

God bless

Carol

Timeless truth

2010-07-22T08:45:00.004+01:00

A rock like no other
I love the word of God and the way in which it is always relevant to our day and our times.
Some of you will be glad to know that I have finished reading Deuteronomy!! But before I leave
In recent days we have had a number of bereavements in the Corps. There is a sense of loss but we have cause to rejoice as well as grieve because of the glorious hope of the Resurrection.

In Deuteronomy 32:31 Moses reminds the people of God have a sure and reliable foundation that those without faith in him do not have.
"For their rock is not like our Rock."

He goes on to say in v 39
"See not that I myself am he! There is no god beside me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal and no one can deliver our of my hand,"

Strength for the day
We have all been very busy with all the usual activities, family committments and holiday club looming large on the horizon. Life has been full, rewarding but physically tiring.

What great promises to read in the light of that from Deuteronomy 33:25 and 27!
"Your strength will equal your days." (NIV) or "As thy days so your strength shall be." (AV)
"The eternal God is your refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms."

God bless

Carol

Carol Young reading.

2010-07-08T21:54:00.005+01:00

Contestants on University Challenge always introduce themselves by name followed by what subject they are studying. My name is Percival Boddington Smythe reading Physics, Higher Maths or Ancient Greek or something equally mystifying.

It is not one of my ambitions to appear on the programme as I am a realist. I only ever answer about three questions in the whole contest. However on this blog I would like to introduce myself as:

Carol Young reading.

Reading what? Well all kinds of things but I am always reading something. Carol Young reading sums up a big part of my existence. Not that I am one to boast of course but I have actually read War and Peace! However don't test me on it. I can't remember any of the Russian names!

Anyway apart from drone on about the joys of reading I wanted to pass on some gems of wisdom from the books I am reading today.

"We have to treat the body as the servant of Jesus Christ: when the body says "Sit" and He says "Go" go! When the body says "Eat and He says "Fast, fast! When the body says Yawn and He says, "Pray", pray!" (Oswald Chambers Daily Thoughts for Disciples)

"As I complete this book we have lived 8 years without our boy. I think of him every day. I miss him. I still have moments where I sit and shed a tear. Instead of being overcome with grief, I have overcome grief with the comfort God gives me. Rocky will not come back to me but I will go to him. In the meantime, life is enriched in beauty and opportunity because of the comfort of God." ( Steve Redman "At least it's not raining" The story of one family's fight with childhood cancer)

"I've learned that whenever you need to change something, start small but start now!"
(Wayne Cordeiro The Divine Mentor)

"Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the Lord your God with your own mouth." Deuteronomy 23:23

God bless

Carol

England Won

2010-06-29T21:42:00.003+01:00

England won on Sunday! They beat Australia at a proper sport- Cricket!

I really don't like football. I find it soooo boring. You can watch a whole game for 90 minutes + all the added on time for the theatrics when the players have pretended to be injured and there be no points scored at all! I can never remember that happening in a game of rugby. There is always something on the board! I love Rugby. All this nonsense about England not having won the World Cup since 1966. Yes they did! In 2003 - in Sydney at Rubgy!

I would like to say that now that England are out of the football world cup, that this means that we don't have to have it on in the house anymore but I live with a husband who likes every sport from motor racing to carpet bowls! ( Well he doesn't really like horse racing or sycronised swimming but most other things)

OK rant over!

Well except to say that generally speaking we do have a tendency to overlook some victories. Our English cricketers won against the Aussies! How great is that?

How many times do we fail to thank God for victories won and blessings received because we have focussed on something that has not gone the way we wanted it to.

I will admit that sometimes I have come home from the meeting and the preaching was good, the worship uplifting, the prayers fervent and the fellowship supportive but I can only think, there were not so many there today and nobody put the Bibles away!

So I'm thanking God today for some victories won over the enemy that I have seen in the past few days.

Some kids turned up for our new Quest group and listened to a short message about God being real.

Late night Prayer Patrol in Bristol on Friday was strategic and we heard God speak through his Spirit. Told a drunk God loved him and prayed with a volunteer ambulance man.

One of our soldiers trusted God and obeyed the prompting of the Holy Spirit to do something very difficult.

Prayer School- What a joy. Testimony of a spiritual breakthrough, freedom in sharing and lovely prayer time, This was especially good as some who said they found it difficult to pray freely in front of others did great.

Personally disciplined myself to leave work behind and sit on a beach for two hours and relaxed!

On a really hot day, when we didn't expect kids to turn up for our Lunch time Drop in, we had a bunch of kids turn up and stay. We were able to come alongside an offer support to one girl in particular.

We're a band that shall conquer the foe
If we fight in the strength of the King
With the sword of the Spirit we know
We sinners to Jesus shall bring

I believe we shall win
If we fight in the strength of the king

God bless

Carol

Evangeline Booth on the scourge of alcohol

2010-06-08T17:00:00.003+01:00

I was reading a book on holiness called Go and Sin no More by Micheal L. Brown (Regal Books) which I picked up at a second hand book shop when I surprisingly came across a quote by Evangeline Booth expressing her views on alcohol.

She says, "Drink has drained more blood, hung more crepes, sold more homes, plunged more people into bankruptcy, armed more villains, slain more children, snapped more wedding rings, defiled more innocence, blinded more eyes, twisted more limbs, dethroned more reason, wrecked more manhood, dishonoured more womanhood, broken more hearts, driven more to suicide and dug more graves than any other poisonous scourge that ever swept its death-dealing waves across the world."
(Cited in Albert M Wells, Jr Inspiring Quotations: Contemporary and Classical (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1988)

I don't think she likes the stuff!

Anyway it was one more confirmation for me to keep going in supporting the campaign to introduce minimum pricing for alcohol in the UK. And if I needed more confirmation I returned from holiday to find out that there were several violent disturbances in our village last Saturday during the Annual Rag Day Festival. This was fuelled by alcohol and sadly involved a lot of under-age drinking. It spoiled what had been a lovely community event.

Since my last posting I have received an email back from Tesco's thanking me for supporting their policy on alcohol pricing. However in response to my suggestion that they take the lead and setting their own controls they pointed out that they would fall foul of competition laws and if only one supermarket raised their prices unilaterally, people would just buy their alcohol elsewhere. Well I'm not really surprised by their response but at least I had a reply, which is more than can be said for the Co.Op.

Anyway I'm not giving up. I'm going to keep writing to other supermarkets and talk to local politicians. And pray. I would love to hear from anyone who is interested in getting involved.

God bless

Carol

Alcohol price limits

2010-05-21T10:36:00.004+01:00

Alcohol price limits

I am not exactly crazy about our new coalition government but I will definitely be urging them to keep their promised to introduce a minimum price per unit for alcohol. At present it is possible to obtain alcohol in some places for just 10 pence per unit - less than a bottle of water .

Today the biggest retailer in the UK, Tesco has backed the plans and is also looking to take other measures to address the issue of binge drinking in the Britain. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8696097.stm

This will not solve the problem of binge drinking or deal with the mindset of drunkeness being a badge of honour in our country but it has to help. Please take action by letting Tesco's and the government know you support this measure and lobby other supermarkets to follow.

Personally I believe that we also need to restrict the availability of alcohol in supermarkets. Alcohol is a dangerous drug, selling it alongside the baked beans and the biscuits makes it appear to be just another commodity that is a normal part of the weekly shop. In the UK we restrict the amount of headached tablets a person can buy in one go but not the amount of alcohol.

Please let's also get on our knees and pray that our nation might be released from the curse of alcohol abuse. I am also praying that the Salvation Army rises up to the challenge of its historic mandate of campaigning for reform in this area.

God bless

Carol

2010-05-12T19:40:00.003+01:00

Pray for Souls

It's a busy week for us, prayer wise at Pill Corps. As well as the usual early bird Prayer Meeting on Tuesday, Prayer walking tonight and cell groups, this Friday it's Pray for a Day. We set aside a day (9am-9 pm) to pray for the many prayer requests that come in from around the UK Territory and also from further afield. We have already had a whole pile of emails. What is encouraging are the folk who tell us about the answered prayers.

I recently signed up to the Praying for Souls group over on the iSalvo's site (http://www.isalvos.net/group/prayforsouls) and discovered that we are praying at the same time as a prayer event in Western Australia. We have promised to pray for their evangelism conference, Go for Souls which is on Saturday. It really is true, you can touch the world through prayer.

On Saturday I am leading the Bristol Prayer School. We have already had one session and it went really well. There are 5 of us going from Pill. This weeks teaching is "How does God speak?"

God bless

Carol

2010-05-04T10:51:00.002+01:00

Wholly Holy Roots 2010

1. Relief

The Roots Conference came back to it own roots. There cannot be a more fundamental root of the Salvation Army than holiness and our own Salvation Army speakers were particularly good at bringing out the essential core truths.

2. Prayer Power

As a member of the Prayer Team I did not get to many aspects of the programme but the prayer room was an amazing place to be. It was I believe the power house of the week-end. We prayed for the Roots event in the prayer room but the prayer room itself is also very much part of the event as delegates visited for prayer and ministry. In addition prayer team members visited the venues and prayed for those ministering in them. For me it was amazing to stand right in the middle of the theatre in the last session and pray for the leaders and delegates as they were sent out to be wholly holy in the every day world.

3. Revelation

For my part I love to not only to talk to God but to hear what he is saying. I am so grateful that in these days I am allowed to operate in my prophetic gifting, speak into peoples lives and watch God set them free or embrace his call.

One of the things that God spoke to me about was about brokeness. In Christian circles today we hear a lot about God wanting to heal the brokeness of people. I endorse that entirely. We are called to be agents of reconciliation. The need for there to be reconciliation at all points to something being broken. There are broken lives, broken relationships, broken communities all around us.
But I think we get a bit imbalanced if we only think of brokeness as something negative. Being broken is an essential element of holiness. In fact I believe that so much of the brokeness we see in people is due to an unwillingness to be broken where it matters. If china bangs against steel, the china will inevitably break and no matter how much you repair it or replace it, whilst it keeps hitting steel it will keep on breaking. In human beings the steel wall of self must be brought down and broken. Sadly some of our Christian counselling instead of advising people to deny themselves and die to self , comforts it and placates it.

In the Calvary Road, Roy Hession writes, "To be broken is the beginning of Revival. It is painful, it is humiliating but it is the only way. It is being "Not I but Christ." and the "C" is a bent "I" The Lord Jesus cannot live in us fully and reveal himself through us until the proud self within us is broken."

I am delighted to say that I met people at Roots who came for prayer who came with that willingness to be be broken and I am excited about what will be able to do with them and through them as he fills them with his power and glory.

4. Personal
As for me. Well I didn't get let off the hook either. I spent a lot of time praying for others and with others but God also talked to me about what I need to do for him. Danielle Strickland spoke very powerfully on Sunday evening about our holy calling to be the people through whom others see God.
When I knew I was moving to Bristol, the Holy Spirit asked me, "Are there still slaves in Bristol?" I knew the answer was yes and the outcome of a whole process of exploration of what I should do about that meant I joined Peacemakers Prayer Patrol . Whenever I can I join a team and walk the city streets praying with people. The initial connection I made with all this was prostitution and human trafficking and I think there is still an element of that but what I have encountered on the late night city streets is the curse of alcohol abuse. The Holy Spirit challenged me through Danielle to take more action. I am going to begin or join in some kind of campaign to address the issue of cheap alcohol being sold in supermarkets.
Pray for me in this. My immediate reaction was "Come on Lord, don't I have enough on my plate already!" However I have learned that if this is of God, he will find me room to do it.

God bless

Carol

2010-04-27T12:27:00.002+01:00

Don't panic Mr Mainwaring

It feels a bit like something out of Dad's Army. The council have found what looks like a WW2 bomb in the part of the River Avon which is right by our quarters! It is officially going to be removed next Wednesday and we might have to evacuate for two-three days. Ironically this time last year this area looked like a bomb had gone off as major rennovation work was in full swing on the flats opposite our house which itself has just had a complete refurbishment.

I'm thinking there has to be some spiritual application that can be got out of all this. How about the idea that in our personal lives many of us have issues that lie buried and even forgotten about? However if not dealt with they can threaten to destroy all our carefully constructed lives, which we rennovate on the surface time and time again. I have lost count of the times when I have dealt with someone going through a spiritual crisis and discovered that the underlying cause has been an unresolved loss, wound or sin. They are a bombs waiting to go off and when they do lots of people suffer in the blast. Time in such circumstances does not heal. The only thing that helps is bringing them to the light and letting the expertise of the Holy Spirit diffuse them

Of course, this so called bomb, could acutally be an old oil drum and all this fuss is for nothing. In which case I will have to think of another spiritual application.

Just off to get my tin helmet.

God bless

Carol

2010-04-22T20:34:00.002+01:00

Committed to the whole message.

A few more extracts from A W Tozer for you.

"To many observing persons today it appears that conversion does not do for people as much as it once did. Too often the experience passes, leaving the seeker unsatisfied and deeply disappointed. Some who are thus affected and who are too sincere to play with religion walk out on the whole thing and turn back to the old life..............................Something is wrong somewhere."

"Could it be that the cause behind this undeniable failure of the gospel to effect moral change is a further back failure of the messenger to grasp the real meaning of his message?
To allow the gospel only in its etymological meaning of good news is to restrict it so radically as acutally to make it something it is not. That "Christ died for our sins" according to the scriptures is good news indeed. But to limit the Christian message to this one truth alone is to rob it of much of its meaning and create a bad misunderstanding among those who hear the resultant preaching."

"It is a message of pardon and for that God be praised; but it is also a message of repentance. It is a message of atonement but it is also a message of temperance and righteousness and godliness in this present world. It tells us to accept a Saviour but it tells us also that we must deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. The gospel message includes the idea of amendment, of separation for the world, of cross carrying and loyalty to the kingdom of God even unto death."

The heart that has felt the weight of its own sin and along with this has seen the dread whiteness of the Most High God will never believe that a message of forgiveness without transformation is a message of good news."

Tozer was writing in the 1950/60's. Do we still make the mistake he talks about and give a limited version of the gospel? I think it is an ever present danger. In fact I think the present church gets even further away from the whole truth because very often Christ is presented only as a person who is available to satisfy our emptiness and little is spoken about the need for pardon, let alone purity.

God bless

Carol

2010-04-21T18:57:00.002+01:00

A bit of AW Tozer

"The most effective argument for Christianity is still the good lives of those who profess it. A company of pure-living cheerful Christians in the community is stronger proof that Christ is risen than any learned treatise could ever be."

"When the Church in America rejected the example of good men and women and chose for her pattern the celebrity of the hour, she suffered the greater loss that she has since discovered. Human greatness cannot be determined by popularity polls and not by the number of lines any man rates in the public press."

The Christian who is zealous to promote the cause of Christ can begin by living in the power of the Spirit and so reproducing the life of Christ in the sight of men. The world may pretend not to see but it will see, nevertheless and more than likely it will get into serious trouble with its conscience over what it sees."

(taken from the Set of the Sail)

God bless

Carol

2010-04-16T11:59:00.003+01:00

Hallelujah!

We just received our copy of All the world and the report of the new work in Sierra Leone. Alan and I have a particular affinity with people planting new work and I just love the comment made by pioneer Captain John Bundu:

"The light is on, the flag is up. We are moving forward. To God be the Glory!"

I say a loud hallelujah to that and pray we might all make that our motto in these days.

God bless

Carol

2010-04-14T09:52:00.013+01:00

The Drama of Easter

Pill Corps 2010

The Upper Room The Garden

The Judgement Hall Calvary

Sunrise

Easter Glory!

God bless

Carol

2010-04-13T08:44:00.004+01:00

Experience Easter

We had a good time celebrating Easter at Pill Corps, meeting each evening during Holy Week to consider its events scene by scene. Good Friday we met in the morning as well and like many Christians around the UK all got completely soaked as we followed a cross around our community on the Walk of witness. Easter Sunday some of us were up early ( I was certainly not bright - that time of day) for a Sunrise Service and it was great to have the band out playing Christ the Lord is risen today around the the cross that Alan had organised to be put up in the centre of our village. A good number turned out for Easter Sunday worship too.

I love Easter and there were many inspiring moments during our meditations and festivities. Such times are important because they keep our hearts tender and our fuel our passion and love for Christ. I have a burden though that much of our focus was upon our own response to what Jesus did. As Churches we made valiant attempts to get outside of our buildings but I feel we have to find even more effective ways of using the Easter celebration to communidate its glory and its meaning.

Also as I have blogged before I also have this thing about the way it is so easy to tick off events in the Christian calendar and then quickly move on to the next thing. We can end up only talking about the cross on Good Friday, the resurrection on Easter Sunday and the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. So with that in mind this Sunday at Pill we are celebrating Easter again because the resurrection is too exciting to only say thank you for once a year and because Easter can be more that a date in the calander but a life changing experience.

Lo a new creation dawning

Lo I rise to life divine

In my soul an Easter morning

I am Christ's and Christ is mine.

God bless

Carol

2010-03-29T17:05:00.002+01:00

The village and the city

On Palm Sunday, Jesus has to trust the people given the task of supplying and securing the animals for his use. They didn't fail him. Luke tells us that the donkey and her colt have more than one owner. A part share in a donkey as your list of assets isn't much to boast about. It is doubtful that these people had much influence or prestige. However their actions in the village that day made a difference to what happened in the city the next.

It may be a bit presumptuous but this encourages me to believe that when our village Corps prays for people in towns and cities across the UK it makes a difference to what happens there. We hold on to the promise that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

On Friday I went out with the Peacemakers Prayer Patrol in Bristol once again. As it turned out there was just Rev Palmer and me. Starting at 9pm and staying out for just about an hour we had an eventful time.

As we set off three young men were coming towards us, shouting and arguing but when asked by Rev Palmer if they were Ok they calmed down immediately and assured us that they were fine. We moved towards the area around the SA Social Services Centre. We stopped and prayed with a lady and her daughter before being approached by a man who said he had just had his bike and all his possessions stolen in the park by a gang of 2o youths. We flagged down a passing police car and they went off to the scene of the crime.

It was Friday night and there were more than a few people out on the streets who even at 9pm had had too much to drink. One of them, beer can in hand stopped and we prayed with him for healing for his broken arm and that he would be kept safe that night. After he went we went into the housing area and prayed about the problem that alcohol abuse is in this area, from the damage done to the drinkers themselves to elderly residents being afraid to go out.

Turning the corner we met a man outside a pub who knew Rev Palmer and we stopped and offered prayer for him and the other man who had also come out for a smoke. Within minutes the whole pub seemed to be outside, and a man started shouting about God being wicked for letting his son die on a cross. He wasn't sober enough to debate with but we did manage to tell the whole crowd that Jesus wasn't dead any longer but alive.

We finished the evening by walking through an area which in the last two years has been taken over by gay nightclubs and then further on to a road with lap dancing clubs, bars and sex shops. Prayer and the action of residents has made a difference in both these areas and some places have been closed down or been forced to take offensive art work out of their windows. We added our prayers to theirs as we walked.

Last night a small group of us at the Corps in the village prayed again for the city. Village or city, Lord may your kingdom come.

God bless

Carol

2010-03-25T07:56:00.002Z

Holiness and Prayer Week-end

Despite having to change a few plans due to circumstances beyond our control, our Holiness and Prayer week-end went ahead. Our guest Andrew Bale was unable to come on Friday evening so it was down to Alan and I to lead and preach. We felt strongly that we should keep to the planned theme, All you need is love and we used 1 John 4:7 as a base text.

We began by saying that our starting point should not be "How much do I love God?" but "How much does God love us?"

"This is love: not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." Love has been poured out.

It is only when we understand that we are his beloved, see how his love is demonstrated at the cross and recieve it that we have any hope of being truly loving people. The promise of the word of God is that not only are we loved and given an example of love but also that we can receive that same love within us, through the agency of the Holy Spirit. Romans 5:5 "And hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out his love into our hearts. Love has been poured in. The love received from God will always be more than we can contain so it will then become love that is poured out through us.

We were unable to pray the whole night as planned but we did pray until midnight. During our time together we shared our particular "heart cry" prayers with each other. The promise that God gave us through verses given to different people was that our righteousness will shine like the dawn.
Psalm 37:6
Isaiah 60:3
Isaiah 62:1

A big sigh of relief when we got news that Andrew was able to come for the Sunday. We had a blessed day when the Lord continued to affirm all that he had been saying and also giving us fresh bread to feed upon. For an outline of Andrews teaching you can go to his blog, http://www.beyondthebrook.blogspot.com

We would fully reccommend combining strong holiness teaching with prayer meetings. Prayer prepares the heart to receive the word of God and then the word of God informs the prayer. The results are stronger and bolder saints.

God bless

Carol

2010-03-16T21:58:00.002Z

A halleujah meeting followed by an all night of prayer

On January 15th 1878 in Whitechapel a meeting was held where most of the evangelists of the Christian Mission were present. Bramwell Booth's quotes from his diary in Echoes and Memories:
"At night Corbridge led a Hallelujah meeting until 10 0'clock. Then we commenced an all night of prayer. Two hundred and fifty were present until 1a.m; two hundred of so after. A tremendous time. From the very first Jehovah was passing by, searching and softening, subduing every heart."

We are looking forward with faith and anticipation to our Prayer and Holiness week-end. Andrew Bale is joining us to preach the word on holiness at our Holiness meetings on Friday evening and Sunday morning. The theme is "All you need is love"

Following the Friday Holiness meeting we will be praying through the night into Saturday morning. We have no agenda for the night of prayer except to lay ourselves before God and make ourselves available to him. I am praying and believing that although there will be nowhere near 250 gathering in our hall, Jehovah will nevertheless pass by searching and softening and subduing every heart.

I assume that by searching, softening and subduing Bramwell means that the Spirit of God gently, yet powerfully leads people to the place where they yield to him and submit to his will. The Spirit is the Spirit of love and it is his love that wins us over.

I have a sense that what God wants to do this week-end is deal with love starved hearts, repair broken hearts, strengthen weak hearts and set cold hearts on fire with a passion for God and his kingdom.

"And hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us." (Romans 5:5)

God bless

Carol

2010-03-13T08:38:00.002Z

A name for yourself

Pill is a funny name for a place. We have heard every joke about our need to keep taking the tablets and does our CSM write the announcements on tablets of stone. It all washes over us. My home Corps before it was renamed Bath Temple was called Bath Odd Down, (where incidentally we are leading some sessions on Prayer Walking today.) so I grew up with wisecracks about God's peculiar people!

One advantage of the name Pill is that it is memorable and it is my hope that once they get past the very obvious and usually tedious jokes people will then immediatly make the association, "Oh that's the Corps that prays!"

Since we have been holding our Pray for a Day events that is happening more and more. We are delighted, not because we want to make a name for ourselves particularly but so that people can come and then say, "somebody prayed for me"

We are now in the place where when the prayer requests come in by email, that many people include thanks for answers, which is so encouraging for our faithful pray-ers.

One interesting development is that each Pray for a Day seems to have a theme. There is no consultation between the people who sent us requests but each time we hold one of these events there is an issue that is highlighted. The time before last the majority of requests came in from people in SA social services asking prayer for their work. Last time we had loads of requests that we pray for people with cancer. This time was marked by the number of people asking for prayer about mental health issues, such as depression. This co-incided with news reports in the UK yesterday that the numbers of young people attending Accident and Emergency with injuries relating to self harm had risen by 50%.

God bless

Carol

2010-03-05T10:18:00.003Z

Authentic Christian Community

This week in our Cell Groups we looked at our Core Value that we want to be an Authentic Christian Community.

As part of our time around the word of God we looked at 1 John 3:16-24 and spent some time asking the Lord to speak to our hearts through the Message translation, which is both encouraging and hard hitting. We underlined the phrases that stood out for us. I have put in bold what they were for me.

"This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother of sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.

My dear children, let's not just talk about love; lets practice real love. This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality. It's also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves. And friends, once that's taken care of and we're no longer accusing or condeming ourselves, we're bold and free before God! We're able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we're doing what he said, doing what pleases him. Again this is God's command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command. As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us."

For me this passage is all about possibilities. Very often we do have the means to meet another's need. I love the phrase "living in God's reality" What the world tells us is the truth about ourselves and what our circumstances tell us is real is so often a lie or a fantasy. God deals in truth. I take great encouragement from the phrase, "once that's taken care of" I once lived with paralysing fear but God dealt with it. It's taken care of. God doesn't give impossible commands. We can do what he says and what pleases him. Our relationship with him and others does not have to be shallow or superficial but deep.

One of the questions we asked was:

What does it mean to lay down our lives for our brothers?

I'd love to hear what some of the other cells came up with in answer to this or anyone else's response.

God bless

Carol

2010-03-03T21:56:00.002Z

Cell Groups.

About a month ago Cell Groups at our Corps were re-structured and we now have 5 cells operating which includes a youth cell. The adult cells gather for a meeting fortnightly but of course we encourage people to interact with one another outside of the specified session.

I don't know about anyone else but I'm already enjoying my new cell and I am excited about what God is going to do among us and through us all.

At this time we are using the times when we gather cell meetings to look at our Core Values. The first session was all about Jesus being the centre of everything.

Anyway I thought that whilst we are doing this I would put some of the questions we are looking at on my blog.

Jesus at the Centre

There are times when:

1. Jesus is missing and we don’t notice. Luke 2:41-52

What should we do when we realise that we are not the place with Jesus that we thought we were?

2. Jesus is present but we are too busy to give him time Luke 10:38-42

Has there ever been a time in your life when you realised that your service for Jesus was taking over from knowing him personally? How do we resolve that situation?

3. Jesus is present but there is a mixed response to him. Luke 7:36-50

How much does the approval/disapproval of others affect how you express your love for Jesus?

God bless

Carol

2010-02-28T21:35:00.002Z

A Sunday in the life of us.

As I drank my early morning tea (courtesy of my husband, who brings me tea every morning. What a star!) I began reading the day to day diary of the Army at work in Haiti The following comment by Cedric Hills for the 6th February was a thought provoking start to another Sunday. He writes:

"As I worked at the distribution this afternoon I found myself next to the first part of the sewage channel. I wore a face mask to stop myself breathing in toxic fumes and to keep the smell away. At the corps behind me a cornetist ran through the hymn tunes- I became aware he was playing the tune we associate with the words "This is my Father's world" (SASB 42)
Comptemplating these words we tend to focus on mountain views, picturesque waterfalls or rippling lakes. Yet the world of the rubbish dump, sewage channel and excreta-covered camp is just as much God's world. Those who inhabit those toxic-fumed streets are just as much his children as any other. As the music wafted over the air it seemed surreal but I thanked God for a timely reminder of his love for his creation." (Salvationist 20th February 2010)

Before we left for the meeting Alan and I sat on the bed and read Psalm 73. We have decided to read a psalm together everyday. It was a good one as Alan admitted to particularly feeling the weight of responsibility for leading worship and preaching today.

"I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel and afterwards you will take into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever."

Worship at the Army was a real blessing this morning. There was a good number in and a buzz of happy chatter as folks greeted each other. As usual there was a bit of banter as everyone was welcomed and laughter at my expense!! I don't mind. It was all about the family of God enjoying being together and it led so well into I am so glad that Jesus loves me. I had to smile at 3 year old Jemima so enthusiastically banging her tambourine in the opening song. Moments of reflection were followed by freedom in prayer and there was a passion in our singing, Alan's preaching was challenging and I felt the Spirit was near as we asked the Lord, "Let me love me Saviour, Take my heart forever. Nothing but they favour my soul can satisfy."

I'll skip quickly over the part recorded Rugby match between England and Ireland which we watched after lunch. Just to say to anyone who doesn't know England lost!

Tonight's blessing in our evening gathering was the testimony time. We do not do this enough. It is so encouraging to one another and so important to voice our acknowledgement of what God is doing among us.

And then it was home to Pancakes for Supper!!

Last week was busy and demanding and the coming week will be just the same but worship with God's people today has restored and renewed me. Thank you Lord.

God bless

Carol

2010-02-13T21:04:00.003Z

Keep on caring and Keep on Praying
Sitting in the dark in the big top watching the powerful images, blown away by the appalling statistics and completely shocked by the fact that this crime against humanity was probably happening in a town or a city that I visited every week, the issue of human trafficking was suddenly in my face, calling for my prayers, my voice in protest and a change in the way I did my shopping. Trips to Ethiopia and Ivory Cross re-inforced my passion to keep on praying and keep on speaking out and not to compromise on ethical shopping.

But I have grown used to the stories, the statistics and the memories of women sleeping on the market stalls in Abijan where they would sell their bodies for sex as night are fading? We have all heard about it now. The TV has covered the issue in it drama's. It's been done, move on, we're bored now. Let's have a new passion, a new campaign. Shock me with something else.

But the victims of modern day slavery do not have the luxury of moving one. They need us to keep on caring and to keep on praying.

God of the poor

Friend of the weak

Give us compassion we pray
Melt our cold hearts

Let tears fall like rain

Come change our love

From a spark to a flame.

Join us tomorrow evening, 6.00pm to pray

God bless

Carol

2010-01-31T22:11:00.002Z

Heart Cry

I have just returned from The Gathering, a prayer and retreat week-end run by 24-7SA Prayer Network. It's been good to spend time in personal and corporate prayer.

In one of the session we were asked to identify our heart cry prayer. In other words, if you could pray only one prayer what would it be?

For me at this time it is this: THAT THE SALVATION ARMY FINDS ITS VOICE.

I continually find myself stirred and desperate for Salvationists to be released from their often tongue-tied state. O for prayer to flow freely instead of embarrassed silence, for a rush to testify when the opportunity is given, the hallelujah's and amen's to resound through the rafters during worship, for the gossipping of the gospel and more and more of us to speak up about social justice and moral issues.

What about you?

What is the cry of your heart when you come to God in prayer?

God bless

Carol

2010-01-28T16:00:00.002Z

Taking care of relationships

I happened to be at our DHQ for prayers this week. Major Jean Bradbury commented on how she had met up with a friend whom she had not seen for many years. She went on to talk about the need to value and treasure our relationships.

Funny that, moments earlier I had been on the website of officer friends and had said in my head, "I should ring them. We haven't talked for ages." So when I got back I did and had a really long catch up with one of them. So now I know what to pray for her and her family, I was reminded of a prophecy we had shared a few years ago and that's given me an idea for where to go with prayer ministry. It's good to talk.

In our last appointment I ran a drop in for parents at a local school. Although the group continues (although it now has no Christian input) the people that were part of it when I was there have moved on now that their children are older. However I have been amazed that some of the women continue to email and send cards from time to time. In the light of the challenge to take care of our relationships I emailed one of them back this morning. I think for some of them I might be the only Christian that they know. I remember them often in my prayers.

And finally. I did a bit of family tracing this morning. This is of course our Katie's field of expertise as she works for that department at THQ but this did not really fit their remit. To cut a long story short I was able to be a link between family members who find it difficult to manage their relationship. At the same time it was one of those occasions when the Body of Christ worked together in the ministry of reconciliation. The local vicar I contacted was just lovely and obviously reaches out into her community with the love of Christ. We are going to liase as we seek to support this family in our two different areas.

If only we would take care of our relationships as much as we take care of our appearance, our gardens and our cars, life would be so much more whole.

"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation." (2 Cor 5:18)

God bless

Carol

2010-01-20T21:53:00.002Z

Drink Problem

In the UK Alcohol is in the headlines. On Monday I picked up the local Bristol paper which gave statistics of the effect alcohol abuse is having on the stretched resources of the NHS.(www.thisbristol.co.uk) In Bristol alone it costs the NHS in the city up to £4 million a year and hospitals admit 9,000 people with alcohol related illnesses or injuries. The numbers of people admitted to accident and emergency departments in 2008/09 with drink related causes in the city have risen by 22 per cent on the previous year. The alcohol-related problems occur in all sections of society and all ages.

What needs to be done and what does the Salvation Army need to do?

PROTEST
At the moment there is a growing protest about the low price of supermarket alcohol that is causing the rise in drunkeness. I have to agree that there must be something wrong when it is possible to buy two litres of cider for £1.29, which is less than the price of the same amount of fresh fruit juice. When four cans of lager can be bought for £3, two bottles of white wine for £6, a litre of vodka for less than £8 and a 70cl of whisky for less than £10.00, it is much cheaper to get drunk than it once was.

In the 18th century it was gin that was causing the problem. Gin had become the poor man's drink and it was advertised 'Drunk for 1 penny, Dead drunk for tuppence, Straw for nothing'!!
It could be bought from pedlars, at the grocers and even sold on market stalls.
The government of the day became alarmed when it was found that the average Londoner drank 14 gallons of spirit each year! Several measures were taken including raising the tax on gin, forbidding its sale without a license, costing. Unfortunately this just created a black market but the Gin Act raised the duty on drink and forbade the distillers, grocers, chandlers, jails and workhouses from selling gin. Gin consumption fell dramatically through the rest of the eighteenth century. In 2010 forbidding the sale of alcohol in supermarkets might just have the same effect!

PROMOTE
Read the newspapers, listen to the debates on TV or radio or eavesdrop to a conversation on the bus and a lot of people have an opinion about what should be done about binge drinking and drunken louts on a Saturday night. Our prevailing culture seems to have convinced succeeding generations that it is impossible to celebrate, socialise or be "cool" without the assistance of alcohol. Surely, as Salvationists there has to be a way of promoting tee-totalism as a positive lifestyle choice without being judgmental or apologetic for our views. Our stance might be unusual even among Christians but we have valid arguments and personal testimony about the merits of living without alcohol.

PRAY
I have blogged this before so forgive me for repeating myself but I firmly believe that changes in legislation and the current publicity about alcohol won't be wholly effective because the UK's attitude to alcohol is a demonic stronghold over this nation. Connecting celebration, manhood, maturity and status with alcohol is common among many cultures but the UK seems to lead the world in making drunkeness a badge of honour! Maybe it has something to do with our British inhibitism and self-consciousness but we seem bound by it. And Satan uses it to ruin so many lives. Spiritual strongholds need spiritual weapons to bring them down. Let's pray now!

God bless

Carol

2010-01-13T22:41:00.006Z

January Pray for a Day and Committment Sunday

Pill Corps Pray for a Day went ahead despite the terrible weather. The Prayer Room was used all day but some people who were not able to attend faithfully prayed at home or during meal breaks at work. The Prayer Room focussed on different covenants in the Bible.

God's Covenant with Noah

God's Covenant with Abraham and Moses

The New Covenant

Prayer requests poured in as usual and each one was brought before the Lord.
We hold a Pray for a Day event every two months and each time it has been strange that despite the requests coming in from all over the UK each time there seems to be a recurring theme. A few months back the majority of our requests were about the work of social services, another time it seemed to be Corps concerns. This time a great proportion of people were asking us to pray for people with cancer.

The Committment Sunday meeting was a blessed time, although our numbers were depleted because of the snow. Nevertheless there was a lovely spirit in the meeting and many of those who gathered signed their committment cards at the mercy seat.

It's a good way to start the year.

God bless

Carol

2010-01-06T18:43:00.003Z

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW

We don't often have snow in Bristol but we awoke this morning to a thick covering of the white stuff and more is forecast before the week-end.

Also coming thick and fast into Pill Corps are requests for prayer. My husband Alan, email's everyone on the UKT system during the week leading up to one of our regular Pray for a Day events. We always have a huge response and this Friday our intrepid team will once again bring every request to the Lord in prayer.

It occurs to me that there may be someone who reads this blog who isn't on the UKT system who would like prayer. If that is you please let me know via comments below.

God bless

Carol

2010-01-05T16:10:00.002Z

Here we go again!

I have had a complete break from blogging for the whole of December. Life was just too busy with all that being a Salvation Army officer at Christmas means. We were able to take a break with family after all the activity which was lovely.

And so it's 2010 and here we go again. Corps life is geared up again, with meetings, hospital visits, toddlers, school ministry, events to organise and a prayer room to prepare for Pray for a Day on Friday.

I also personally feel, it's here we go again with my personal Bible Study, which I have to admit had to go on a back burner whilst I immersed myself in preparation and study for Christmas messages. Now I am back to reading through the Bible chronologlically.

I am always amazed by the fact that after a life-time of reading the word of God I still manage to come across passages that have completely passed me by.

So come on all you Bible scholars! Here is your starter for ten. Who was Hobab?

Well Hobab was the brother-in-law of Moses and he was invited by him to accompany God's people as they journeyed towards Canaan. We find the incident in Numbers 10:29-33. As we get going again after a break after Christmas I think this little story has a lot to say to us would be evangelists. So here is advanced notice that this is the passage we are going to look at next Sunday night at Pill Corps. All I'll say for now is that an invitation was given, was eventually accepted and Hobab ended up in the Promised Land. Now that's a result.

It's good to be back

God bless

Carol

2009-12-01T19:47:00.005Z

Prevailing Prayer

On Sunday night in our meeting we spent some time praying for breakthrough in the lives of people who we are breaking our hearts over.

Sometimes our prayers are not more effective than trying to knock a wall down with an inflatable hammer.

Our prayers need to have more weight if we are to prevail and see breakthrough. Today I picked up my 24-7/SA Prayer Networdk newsletter and read again an extract from an article by Major David Taylor about the conditions for prevailing prayer.

He writes:

1. The conditions for prevailing prayer.

Catherine Booth fervently taught that there were God given conditions that we have to fulfill in order to see our prayers prevailing. This would sound rather mechanical if it were not for the deep spirituality of those conditions. The conditions she saw in Scripture included such primary truths as "abiding" in Christ, obeidence to what God has reveale, being sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading and holding on to God in faith. They are conditions of relationship with God. When a revival that swept across Ireland and America missed England and raised ridicule in the National Press for the way Christians had been praying and expecting God to move mightily, Catherine was angry and exclaimed, "I knew it was not because our God was asleep; not because his arm was shortened; not because his bowels of compassion did not yearn over sinners: not because he could not have poured out his Spirit and have given us the same glorious tiems of refreshing they had in other places. THAT WAS NOT THE REASON. There was only one reason and that was the people asked amiss. They did not understand the conditions of prevailing prayer.... The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." For Catherine Booth, prayer and holiness were inseperable."

God bless

Carol

2009-11-27T10:16:00.002Z

Reflection

As usual my life has been incredibly busy. That's not a complaint. I am an activist and I will always find something to do, even if no one else makes demands upon me. As it is, knowing that I am quite a motviated person, I do get asked by others to get involved in a variety of things, some of which I should probably say no to. I am much more disciplined over this than I used to be and the important things usually to do get done, including Sabbath Rest.

However if you are at all like me, you will understand what it is to always have a longer list of things you want to do, explore, have a go at and read about that you can ever hope to do. Physical stamina and the fact that there are only 24 hours in a day mean I never get to the end of a list.

I am not really frustrated by this, just thankful to God that he has made the world such an interesting place. Sometimes people mistake my work ethic for duty, or being driven to prove something. There was a time when that was true. The Holy Spirit gloriously delivered me from that. I am however still as busy but it's because most of the time I relish life and the opportunities for service which come my way. I do not understand what it is to be bored or not to be bothered. What is that like? It must be awful, not to find prayer, the Bible, the world, people, and life fascinating.

Anyway, just so you know, sometimes the reason why there are long gaps between blogs, it's because I'm doing something else and blogging was the next thing on the list to do but didn't quite make it before the time ran out!

Bye for now. I'm off to get stuck into prep for Sunday and ..........................................

God bless

Carol

2009-11-12T22:56:00.002Z

Pray for a Day

It's Pray for a Day at Pill Corps again. Once again we have had dozens of requests for prayer, which we will bring before the Lord throughout the day.

In addition we will be praying for a list of things for our own Corps and each seeking God for his anointing and power.

Then on Saturday, it starts all over again as Lori Richards and I are responsible for setting up the prayer rooms for the Territorial Congress and will be spending most of the week-end providing prayer cover for the meetings and praying for the UKT

That's brilliant as far as I'm concerned. I can't think of many other better ways to spend a week-end.

Let's believe that God will mightily bless the Salvation Army in the UK and do much more than we can ask or imagine!

God bless

Carol

2009-11-09T10:09:00.002Z

Jonathan and his armour bearer

Do you ever get the feeling that God might be asking you to look again at a particular part of his word?

Just over a week ago at Prayer School, part or our study was to look at prayer roles, one of which was armour bearer and the story used as an example was 1 Samuel 14:6-15.

Yesterday at the Remembrance Service, our local Baptist minister chose the same reading for his sermon. This morning, whilst eating my breakfast I browsed through TV channels onto one of the God channels, which was showing a preacher at the New Frontiers Conference in Brighton. He was preaching on 1 Samuel 14:6-15!!

Anyway Pill Corps, be on the alert I get the sense that this a word for us to chew over on Friday at the Prayer Day.

God bless

Carol

2009-11-08T20:44:00.002Z

Results of anointing by the Holy Spirit

"There are four great results that follow the anointing, four evidences that can neither be disputed or counterfeited:

- victory over sin

- power in service

- the fruit of the Spirit

- a burden for souls."

(Oswald J. Smith The Enduement of power)

God bless

Carol

2009-11-02T21:16:00.002Z

From the cradle to.............

Tomorrow I have an interesting day. It starts off in the morning with our Toddler Group, which consists of mostly unchurched parents and their children coming for a morning of activity and chat.
Following this, Alan and I will be off up to the Secondary School for the lunch-time games club. We usually attract between 6-10 kids, some of whom are particularly vulnerable. It is a bolt hole, a place where they are offered a listening ear and where they can build up their confidence.

Then it's off to one of our soldier's houses to celebrate a "significant" birthday and having had our tea and cake we re-visit Smallcombe House to conduct a meeting with the elderly residents there as part of the Salvation Army Social Services Campaign Week.

The old slogan that the NHS provides for health needs from the cradle to the grave is also true of the gospel, except of course that it also provids for beyond the grave, for eternity. I think I am meeting with almost every age group tomorrow at some point or another.

In lots of ways tomorrow is not unusual. It's just another day in the life of an ordinary Corps but it could also be the day someone really hears the gospel for the first time, the day someone gets saved, someone returns to the Lord, someone gets filled with the Spirit. What an immense responsibility to make the most of every opportunity to share the free benefits of a gospel that can meet the needs of every unique individual I will meet tomorrow.

Thank God, he doesn't just pour out anointing for Sundays and Festivals but on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and .....................

God bless

Carol

2009-10-30T21:33:00.002Z

Sanctification

I have just been over on http://www.armybarmy.com/index.html where sanctification is being discussed.

Whilst preparing for some teaching on Spiritual Growth I was led to the life of Samuel, which seemed to me to compare to the link between sanctification and growing in grace.

Samuel was born to Hannah through the grace of God, just as we have been born again spiritually through his grace.
Hannah had made a promise that if she could have a baby she would give him over to God totally for his service. It was a promise she made but she held on to the baby for a while but there came a moment when she knew she must in all conscience completely surrender him to God and take him to the temple. It was to be part of Samuel’s development, as he grew and was weaned but it involved a crisis, a moment of surrender so that Samuel was in the right place to grow as God wanted him to. Samuel was not just born of God, he was promised to God, but there was a moment when he was actually wholly set apart for God. In Christian life many promise God their total commitment, they even intend that it should be so but human ties can hold us back just as they could have Samuel, if Hannah had not let him go. However one day Hannah actually took her son and left him at the temple. He may have gone with her many times before to visit but this was different. On this day she once and for all relinquished her rights over her child and entrusted him to the priest. In the story of Samuel, it is Hannah who has to make the surrender as Samuel had no say in the matter. In our lives it is we ourselves who are called upon to relinquish the right to run our own lives and entrust them entirely to God.
The debate about who is in charge of our life is over. For Samuel it was no longer Hannah and Elkannah but Eli the Priest. For us it is no longer the world or self but Christ. Now that is settled it is time to concentrate on growing in this new life. It is our priority.
Samuel now lived at the temple but he didn’t stay two years old. Each year his mother brought him new clothes because he grew. He grew not only physically but emotionally and spiritually too. This did not mean he was immune from temptation. For Samuel even though he was in the place God wanted him to be, there was still a battle to fight as the influence of the world infiltrated the temple through Eli's sons. Samuel however, because he kept listening to God, was able to stay pure.

This experience of total surrender, continual growth and constant overcoming can be ours.

"We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

God bless

Carol

2009-10-27T11:20:00.002Z

Higgins on Promises and Faithfulness

"It has been said that we make too many promises in the Salvation Army. To which I reply: No, not one too many! The more promises we enter into with God, the better will it be for us all. Such promises are a great strength in hours of temptation. They become bulwarks to protect us from both the assaults of the Evil One and those which arise within ourselves."

Higgins cites the following things to which he believes the Salvationist should be faithful

1. To Army principles

Our methods may change because times alter and conditions become different but our principles remain the same for ever. What is truth today will be truth in a hundred years to come. What is pure today will be pure then.

2. To anti-worldliness

Worldliness is not seen in the choise of our attire only it manifests itself in a thousand and one ways. Everything that is contrary to the spirit and purpose and character of Jesus Christ we must resist with all our might.

3. To fighting for the Salvation of the world

I am afraid the idea has sometimes got abroad that Officers are intended to be like parsons and preach sermons whole the people they are supposed to lead in fighting do nothing. What sort of military warfare would that be in which the fighting was left entirely to the officers, the very persons who are on the spot to lead their soldiers in fighting?

4. To the penitent form

We must be true to the principles of demanding from sinners a public acknowledgement of their need of salvation and urging them to come out and declare before all men their determination to give up sin and serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

5. To the government of the Army

That government has proved itself to be strong and effective by securing and developing great forces of thousands of men and women who are willing to be directed by those place in authority over them.

6. To the Gospel

I urge you to be faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ. In your hands are to a great extent the eternal destinies of men and women.

7. To our duties

Bear in mind that the Army has given us opportunities we should never have had elsewhere. It has place us on a platform where we can influence men and women for God. Surely then it has a claim upon our service and devotion which must take first place. If we are going to have satisfaction at the end of life's journey, we must so live that we shall be ab le to look back with full assurance that all our duty has been faithfully performed.

Is he right?

What do you think?

More tomorrow

God bless

Carol

2009-10-26T08:40:00.004Z

Storm Pilot

Whilst at Officers Councils a few days ago I bought the book 1929 by John Larsson. What a fascinating read. I have been in the Army all my life and although I had of course heard about how Bramwell Booth had been removed from office I had no idea of the intrigue or the drama involved.

One of the central figures during this whole episode of SA history is Edward Higgins, a person I knew nothing about, before I read this book and was known as the Storm- Pilot. He comes across in the book as a man of integrity and wisdom. On returning home I have fished out a book by him that I have never read called Stewards of God, which is a collection of papers specially compiled for the help and guidance of Corps Officers of the Salvation Army.

So I will include some gems of wisdom from the Storm Pilot over the next few blogs, which I think are good advice for all Christians, not just officers.

Higgins on Opportunity

"Our opportunities like time itself are forever on the wing and unless we are alert to the fact we shall become conscious of most of them only when they are gone forever. Therefore look out for them! Try to meet them! Strive for them!

All opportunities are not alike, nor are all equally productive. Yet all Salvation Army officers have many wonderful opportunities presented to them. The important thing is to cultivate that clearness of vision which will enable you to see them. What is seen by some officers as a great opporutnity appears as nothing to others whose perspective is wrong.

Somebody has said, "Failure is blindness to the strategic element in time; success depends upon readiness and instant action hwen the opportune moment arrives." James Watt was not the first man who had seen steam lift the lid of a kettle but he was the first to see the possibilities latent in the fact and to allow his mind to develop the idea until he evolved an engine which improved upon later by George Stephenson was the beginning of transportation by the power of steam. When we realise that we are stewards of every opportunity placed in our hands and for which we shall be held eternally responsible we shall look on this matter with more serious eyes."

More tomorrow

God bless

Carol

2009-10-20T18:11:00.002+01:00

Ask the Lord of the Harvest

I have been to see my good friend Dawnecia (the Rev) who is the leader of Peacemakers Prayer Patrol. (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0KZH/is_4_18/ai_n15378950/ )

Pill Corps is starting out as a Prayer Shield for this great ministry and personally I hope to go out on some more Prayer Patrol's very soon. In the meantime Dawnecia was sharing with me how she is avoiding the Police at the moment, not because she has done anything wrong but because they keep asking her to take Prayer Patrol into more and more areas. However she is stretched to the limit as even some of the existing prayer patrols are struggling to recruit more team members. I felt really saddened that the growing acceptance that prayer makes a difference to communities among secular agencies is not being met by an army of intercessors from the Church. It is almost as if the unchurched believe in prayer more that the Christians.

Now don't get me wrong, I know that many people don't get involved in the particular ministries that I think are priority because they are already heavily involved in the ministry that God has called them into. We are not great advocates of a corps having a huge programme but I understand the heart behind an article William Booth wrote called "buried forces"

He wrote, "Is it any wonder that the interests of the Kingdom of Heaven should make such slow progress, in view of the small amount of energy, time, ability, wealth and other forces expended upon them compared with the enormous attention that is given to earthly enterprises?"

So what should we do? Well we can advertise, we can preach sermons to make people feel guilty enough to help out, we can as William advised, "study how you can roll the old chariot along faster" or we could first take the advice of Jesus. "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

So we're going to take the Lord at his word and we're going to ask him. It sort of dawned on me that God is not going to honour our recruitment drives, our attempts to motivate people to mobilise if we don't first obey his command to ask him for workers.

So we are going to start now individually but will come together with others at the end of November for a intense prayer night

What about you? Will you pray for harvesters where you are? It will be interesting to see who God sends our way.

God bless

Carol