Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Updates on Haiti & The Salvation Army relief

For updates on Haiti please visit....
http://blog.salvationarmyusa.org/
OR
http://www.salvationarmyhaiti.org/
OR
http://www.expectchange.dreamhosters.com/

God please come along side all those who are mourning, hurting, and serving in your Name.

Live holy, preach Jesus!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Sunday's Sermon - Christianity is a battleground not a playground

To listen to Sunday's sermon now, just click the play arrow here.



For a basic manuscript of this message use download, or sharing options, click the menu button at the right of this square and choose your option.

For past sermons or podcasting options see the full size sermon player at the very bottom of this blog page OR you can always access my sermon player site (and countless other preachers) at http://sermon.net/The_Salvation_Army_Homer

God bless your study!
Live holy, preach Jesus!

Friday, January 8, 2010

Letter from the General - "Beginnings"

PASTORAL LETTER SEVENTEEN (from the office of the General)

BEGINNINGS

Dear Fellow Salvationists,

Through this first Pastoral Letter of 2010 I greet you warmly in the sacred name of Jesus. In these opening weeks of the New Year I lift you up to God in prayer. May the Divine Presence be very real to each one of you at this time of new beginnings. May you sense the Lord's nearness day by day, moment by moment.

The theme of this 17th Pastoral Letter is 'Beginnings'.

Another year is a gift from God to each of us. The very newness of it causes us to pause and take stock of our lives. It is good to do this from time to time.

We can, first of all, cast a backward glance over our shoulders to review the year that has just closed. Can you see the gracious hand of the Lord in it: in the things that have happened in your life, and in the events impacting the lives of your loved ones and friends? It is a time to pause and give thanks to Almighty God for his promised presence with us through all the days of 2009. He has been there in the good and in the bad times. He has seen us through. He has been faithful.

Next we look ahead. It is a very great mercy that the future is veiled. This prompts our hearts to reach out still further to God as consciously we put our trust in him for the unknown days ahead. A time of new beginnings is a time also for new trust.

Let us find a quiet moment in which to tell the Lord that we do indeed love and trust him. It is a very great help to our souls to do this deliberately, with full intentionality. This quiet moment of rededication will become perhaps a source of great strength, of great grace, in the days ahead. Let it be a renewing of your love for God, a renewing of your devotion, a renewing of your willingness to serve him and to be seen and known by all as his disciple.

Then having placed our lives afresh before him in this manner, we can place our loved ones again into his loving care and protection.

For example, how good it is to pray for one's spouse, to speak aloud the name of a husband or a wife in prayer. The best marriages, marriages that endure, are built on such foundations. How helpful it is when a husband and wife can sit quietly together to pray aloud for each other and for the whole family circle. It is especially important to do this at a time of new beginnings and before the gentle, calm blessedness of Christmas has faded.

How good it is also to pray for one's children, naming them aloud before the Throne of Grace. God hears these prayers. They are never wasted. God's ear is inclined toward those who seek his guidance and protection for their children. Christian parents often make such prayers, as do Christian grandparents and Christian aunts and uncles. I say again: these prayers are never wasted.

This season of new beginnings allows us to place before the Lord also the hopes we have in our hearts concerning our daily work. Many of you reading this are Salvation Army officers making plans for the spiritual advancement of those you lead and those you serve in Christ's name. I say to you, 'May God bless those plans, those sacred ambitions for the souls of others.'

Many of you are local officers in the Army, holding sacred hopes that 2010 will see your service more fruitful for God than ever before. I join you in that good hope and I share the Spirit-prompted ambitions for your Kingdom-work.

I know also that many of you have influence over our young people in the Army. God bless you for that! I pray that you will be guided in all things by the Holy Spirit and that you will be given wisdom to lead many a young person into a new beginning with God.

Finally, I request that you continue to pray for me as we enter 2010. I need your prayers. Please pray for wisdom from God to be my portion, and also for physical strength to be granted day by day.

Commissioner Helen Clifton joins me in greeting you as we commend you each one to the matchless love of the Saviour.

God be with you.

Yours in Christ

Shaw Clifton
General


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Live holy, preach Jesus!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Sunday's Sermon - New Year's resolutions from the wisest man who ever lived.

To listen to Sunday's sermon now, just click the play arrow here.



For a basic manuscript of this message use download, or sharing options, click the menu button at the right of this square and choose your option.

For past sermons or podcasting options see the full size sermon player at the very bottom of this blog page OR you can always access my sermon player site (and countless other preachers) at http://sermon.net/The_Salvation_Army_Homer

God bless your study!
Live holy, preach Jesus!

Friday, January 1, 2010

Reading your Bible Facts... not enough time?

Did you know it takes very little time in God's Word each day to read it through each year.

· If you read 1 chapter each weekday (m-f) you will read the whole New Testament in one year
· If you read just 2 chapters a day you would read all of the New Testament, Proverbs, and the entire book of Psalms in one year
· If you committed 3 chapters a day a day and 5 on Sundays, you will read the the whole bible through completely every year
· If you will give God and yourself the privilege of 4 chapters a day, you could read all of the Bible through as well as either the Psalms or the whole New Testament a second time, EACH YEAR.

God has written out instructions for you to govern your life by, has advice for everything relating to life and godliness, speaks to all situations, and promises that if you apply it you cannot help but be blessed. MAKE TIME FOR HIS WORD THIS YEAR.
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Some Bible trivia - the middle Chapter of the bible is Psalm 118 (there are 1189 chapters in the Bible). Psalm 118 is after 117 (which is the shortest chapter in the Bible) and is before 119 (which is the longest chapter in the Bible).

The middle verse of the Bible is Psalms 118:8 which reads... It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
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Enjoy God's Word this year!

Live holy, preach Jesus!

Quote by J.C. Ryle passed on by my friend Bryan Lowe...

Amidst the flood of dangerous reading, I plead for my Master's book, I call upon you not to forget the book of the soul. Do not let newspapers, novels, and romances be read, while the prophets and Apostles be despised. Do not let the exciting and sensual swallow up your attention, while the edifying and the sanctifying can find no place in your mind. --J.C. Ryle

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It's a new year - pick a bible reading plan - Any bible reading plan - and start reading daily to do whatever you read.

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Live holy, preach Jesus!

Thursday, December 31, 2009

C.S. Lewis Quote...

A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.

Live holy, preach Jesus!

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Sunday's Sermon - Ending the new year with advent faith!

To listen to Sunday's sermon now, just click the play arrow here.



For a basic manuscript of this message use download, or sharing options, click the menu button at the right of this square and choose your option.

For past sermons or podcasting options see the full size sermon player at the very bottom of this blog page OR you can always access my sermon player site (and countless other preachers) at http://sermon.net/The_Salvation_Army_Homer

God bless your study!
Live holy, preach Jesus!

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Make room!

Make sure you take time to seek a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ this Christmas.

Remember that when we read "there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the inn", it wasn't that there was actually no room, it's that they didn't MAKE ROOM. Had Herod arrived and demanded a room, people would have thrown out other guests in order to make room, even given up their own room for him... once you realize that Jesus is both Lord and Savior you must repent of your sins and make room to put Him first in all things and every area of your life in order to claim His promise to abide with you and you in Him.

Put Jesus first - because He is and will not settle for second place in your life, "Jesus is either Lord of all, or He's not your Lord at all".

Seek the Christ we celebrate at Christmas.

Live holy, preach Jesus!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Sunday's Sermon - The gifts of the first Christmas celebartions.

To listen to Sunday's sermon now, just click the play arrow here.



For a basic manuscript of this message use download, or sharing options, click the menu button at the right of this square and choose your option.

For past sermons or podcasting options see the full size sermon player at the very bottom of this blog page OR you can always access my sermon player site (and countless other preachers) at http://sermon.net/The_Salvation_Army_Homer

God bless your study!
Live holy, preach Jesus!

Friday, December 18, 2009

Forwarding this from a friend ... Improv Everywhere: Guerrilla Handbell Strikeforce

You've got to wonder what this bell ringer what thinking??????.... enjoy....



Live holy, preach Jesus!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Kettle Cartoon



Live holy, preach Jesus.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Sunday's Sermon - How Bethlehem missed Christmas

To listen to Sunday's sermon now, just click the play arrow here.



For a basic manuscript of this message use download, or sharing options, click the menu button at the right of this square and choose your option.

For past sermons or podcasting options see the full size sermon player at the very bottom of this blog page OR you can always access my sermon player site (and countless other preachers) at http://sermon.net/The_Salvation_Army_Homer

special note... Much of this sermon was from a sermon by Andy Cook of LifeWay - originally published in Proclaim Online. Original sermon & powerpoint at http://www.lifeway.com/article/?id=166513

God bless your study!
Live holy, preach Jesus!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Classic Christmas message - Luke 2:8-20



Charles Schulz found the gift of Christmas, coming to faith in Christ as a child, and returning home after service in World War II with very strong Christian beliefs. For a while, even worked as a writer for a Christian magazine. But he found fame, of course, as the creator of “Peanuts,” the most famous comic strip in history. Ironically, in 1965, television producers almost turned away the Shultz’ most successful project of all. When the first screening of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” was seen, executive producer Lee Mendelson says that CBS network executives hated the show. "They said it was slow," says Mendelson, who, along with animator Bill Melendez, told Schulz, "You can't read from the Bible on network television." Schulz's desires prevailed, however, and the simple cartoon special garnered an unbelievable 50 percent of the nation's viewers that first year. It went on to win both an Emmy and a Peabody award. Pop Culture experts affirm that the program, now considered an icon, draws strength from its back-to-the-basics approach. The ironic thing is that the program, which intentionally turned away from a materialistic view of Christmas, has become a huge corporate moneymaker. During its 40th broadcast, it won its timeslot in terms of total viewers (15.4 million), and led all adult, teen, and children's demographics. It also earned over $6 million in ad revenue, as companies paid over $200,000 for each commercial airing with it. Schulz's widow, Jeannie, is not surprised that the show has earned such large profits, saying, "[Charles] said there would always be a market for innocence." (Source: Bill Nichols, "The Christmas Classic That Almost Wasn't," USA Today, December 6, 2005, pp. 1-2A; "You're a Good Magnet for Holiday Ads, Charlie Brown," LATimes.com).

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Take time to seek the Christ of Christmas this holy season.

Live holy, preach Jesus!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Homer News Report of Holiday efforts

Here is a story about our local Salvation Army in the paper this week.

Read the whole article here...
http://www.homernews.com/stories/120909/news_1_008.shtml

Blessings,

Live holy, preach Jesus.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Sermon Audio Problems fixed!

Hello soldiers and friends,

Special thanks to Craig for telling me of the audio problem with my last 6 entries. They have all been corrected and should be fine from here on out. Please let me know if there are any further problems, but hopefully the bug is fixed.

You can go back and listen or download them again and they should be fine.

Thanks for listening and remember... we will try to keep my voice as clear as possible, but make sure you can here HIS.

Live holy, preach Jesus!

Sermon audio problems???? Past 5 Sermons & soldier enrollment

Hello to all those who listen to my sermons on-line,

Right now there is an audio problem with my past 5 sermon (and soldier enrollment) audio files, I'm sorry for the problem and hope to have them fixed shortly. If there are any others that aren't working correctly please let me know.

Thanks for listening, and God bless.

Live holy, preach Jesus!

Sunday's Sermon - The Church Leaders who missed Christmas

To listen to Sunday's sermon now, just click the play arrow here.



For a basic manuscript of this message use download, or sharing options, click the menu button at the right of this square and choose your option.

For past sermons or podcasting options see the full size sermon player at the very bottom of this blog page OR you can always access my sermon player site (and countless other preachers) at http://sermon.net/The_Salvation_Army_Homer

special note... Much of this sermon was from a sermon by Andy Cook of LifeWay - originally published in Proclaim Online. Original sermon & powerpoint at http://www.lifeway.com/article/?id=166511

God bless your study!
Live holy, preach Jesus!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Salvation Army red kettles now accepting prayer requests

Great story from my fellow comrads in Spokane.



Live holy, preach Jesus!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Captain's meditation on Luke 11:28

Luke 11:27-28 27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you." 28 He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."

Just a quick thought as we enter the Holy Season of Christmas...

What an amazing thing for God to choose Mary herself to be so privileged as to give birth to God incarnate - Immanuel. But Jesus Himself says, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."

Would you like to be as blessed as Mary???? Read God's Word... Hear God's Word.... and do what it says.

Live holy, preach Jesus!