Video - John Piper, "Make War"

Live holy, preach Jesus!

Songbook Song 415 "From every stain made clean"

Read carefully and meditate on these fantastic promises and declarations from our Salvation Army Songbook written by Herbert Howard Booth ...

1. From every stain made clean, From every sin set free;
O blessed Lord, this is the gift That thou hast promised me.
And pressing through the past Of failure, fault and fear,
Before thy cross my soul I cast, And dare to leave it there.

2. From thee I would not hide My sin, because of fear
What men may think; I hate my pride. And as I am appear,
Just as I am, O Lord, Not what I'm thought to be,
Just as I am, a struggling soul For life and liberty.

3. While in thy light I stand, My heart, I seem to see,
Has failed to take from thy own hand The gifts it offers me.
O Lord, thy plenteous grace, Thy wisdom and thy power,
I here proclaim, before thy face, Can keep me every hour.

4. Upon the altar here I lay my treasure down;
I only want to have thee near, King of my heart to crown.
The fire doth surely burn My every selfish claim;
And while from them to thee I turn, I trust in thy great name.

5. A heart by blood made clean In every wish and thought,
A heart that by God's power has been Into subjection brought,
To walk, to weep, to sing, Within the light of Heaven;
This is the blessing, Saviour-King, That thou to me hast given.

Live holy, preach Jesus!

Generalisations - Quote from "Officer Magazine"

This first quote from our founder General William Booth...

"It is a charge brought against us by some that we make a hobby of the subject of holiness - that like Paganini with his violin, we are always fiddling on one string. If it were so, I suppose he would have replied, or someone like him, that he was able to bring more music out of his one string than his rivals could bring out of their four. And if it is true that are too frequently engaged on this one topic, I think there are a good many who can bear witness that there has been brought out of it - some music wonderfully enthralling, which music has been make a wonderful blessing to them, and to many who are round about them. But I take exception to the correctness of this charge. I say, varying the figure, we re running our 'Hallelujah Express' to Heaven not on one line, but on three. The first line of these rails we call pardon, and I am sure we very often talk about that. The second we term purity - a clean heart, with a clean life. The third term is sacrifice."

Tell someone of about pardon, purity, and sacrificial living today.

Live holy, preach Jesus!

You must cultivate your soul.

1st let me admit that I borrowed (copy and pasted) this from another site I visit occasionally... The following was said to be from "The Pursuit of Holiness" by Jerry Bridges. I read the book quite some time ago and was blessed and challenged by it. ...

A Farmer plows his field, sows the seed, and fertilizes and cultivates—all the while knowing that in the final analysis he is utterly dependent on forces outside of himself. He knows he cannot cause the seed to germinate, nor can he produce the rain and sunshine for growing and harvesting the crop. For a successful harvest, he is dependent on these things from God.

Yet the farmer knows that unless he diligently pursues his responsibilities to plow, plant, fertilize, and cultivate, he can- not expect a harvest at the end of the season. In a sense he is in a partnership with God, and he will reap its benefits only when he has fulfilled his own responsibilities. Farming is a joint venture between God and the farmer. The farmer cannot do what God must do, and God will not do what the farmer should do.

We can say just as accurately that the pursuit of holiness is a joint venture between God and the Christian. No one can attain any degree of holiness without God working in his life, but just as surely no one will attain it without effort on his own part. God has made it possible for us to walk in holiness. But He has given to us the responsibility of doing the walking; He does not do that for us.

Anyway this just sounded very similar to many points from my last sermon on Philippians Chapter 2 - we must work out our salvation, with fear and trembling, while God works in us to will and act according to His purpose... If you didn't get a chance to listen or read my study, just check Monday's link. God bless.

Live holy, preach Jesus!

Have a blessed Sunday - Entire Sanctification

Hello Soldiers, fellow followers of Jesus, and friends of the Army.

For what ever reason you may miss time at the corps today (or your local church) here is something to consider.

I invite you to meditate on these words written by Charles Wesley in 1742

Oh, for a heart to praise my God,

A heart from sin set free!

A heart that always feels thy blood,

So freely spilt for me!

Thy tender heart is still the same,

And melts at human woe;

Jesus, for thee distressed I am -

I want thy love to know.

Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart;

Come quickly from above;

Write thy new name upon my heart,

Thy new, best name of love!

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 says... May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

Entire Sanctification isn't too difficult to explain is it? I was meeting with one of our young people going through soldiership classes this week and described it this way... entire sanctification is the place where you have set apart everything you have and are to Jesus, so that if He asks you to give away your IPOD, you give it away. If He asks you to change your profession, move, give away all your money, change what you watch on TV (or throw it out), witness to the scary guy on the corner, whatever - you have predetermined that whatever God asks for, you have already set it aside for Him to have.

Is there any part of your life (possession, pass-time, or personality) you haven't surrendered to God? With God's help you can give Him what He asks for today. Once you do He will bless in ways you can't possibly imagine.

Live life fully-surrendered, completely abandoned to the leading of Christ's Holy Spirit today.

Lord show me anything I am holding on to today that I haven't fully trusted into your hands, that I may willingly surrender back to you. I accept that everything I have and my very life are a gift from you today. Thank you for it. May an overwhelming motive of love drive every decision I make. Your will be done.

Live holy, preach Jesus!

Salvation Army Songbook # 458

Prayerfully consider these words penned by William Dunn Longstaff (1822-94)

1. Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in him always, and feed on his word;
Make friends of God's children; help those who are weak;
Forgetting in nothing his blessing to seek.

2. Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret with Jesus alone;
By looking to Jesus, like him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct his likeness shall see.

3. Take time to be holy, let him be thy guide,
And run not before him whatever betide;
In joy or in sorrow still follow thy Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in his word.

4. Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul;
Each thought and each motive beneath his control;
Thus led by his Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.

Live holy, preach Jesus!

Captain's meditation on Ephesians 1:3-4

Ephesians 1:3-4 says... Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

Jesus not only saves from sin and hell, but from sinning as well.

We are chosen not only to escape hell and be acceptable to God (by faith in Jesus alone because of the work He did on the cross), but we are to be holy and blameless NOW.

Later in chapter 4 of Ephesians Paul says again to live a life worthy of the calling we have received and then again in chapter 4 (in between more basic rules for holy living while here on earth) we read verse 22-24 ... 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 to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

We have been saved from the power of sin, that we can now say NO to every temptation, and we can daily, moment by moment, choose to please and glorify God.

So again today...
Live holy, preach Jesus!

Captain's thoughts on Swine Flu H1N1 Update

To Salvation Army Soldiers, followers of Jesus, friends, and family,

A recent report on swine flu says the following...
SEE WHY I MENTION IT BELOW...

Some Key developments on swine flu outbreaks, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, and government officials:

• Deaths: 159, all in Mexico, seven confirmed as swine flu and rest suspected.
• Sickened: 2,498 suspected and 19 confirmed in Mexico; 66 confirmed in U.S.; 13 confirmed in Canada; two confirmed in Scotland; 14 confirmed in New Zealand; two confirmed in Spain; and two confirmed in Israel.
• Confirmed U.S. cases, by state: 45 in New York, 11 in California, six in Texas, two in Kansas and one each in Indiana and Ohio, according to CDC and states.
• Public health emergency declared and roughly 12 million doses of Tamiflu from federal stockpile to be delivered to states.
• Cuba bans flights to and from Mexico; Argentina suspends flights from Mexico; U.S., European Union, other countries discourage nonessential travel there. Arriving travelers questioned at Mexico's U.S. border and world airports. Cruise lines avoid Mexico ports.
• Mexico suspends all schools until May 6. In U.S., some schools closed in New York City, Texas, California, South Carolina, Connecticut and Ohio.
• In Mexico City, surgical masks given to the public, venues closed and public events canceled. President assumed new powers to isolate infected people. World Bank loaning Mexico more than $200 million.
• World Health Organization (WHO) alert at Phase 4 of 6, meaning disease spreads easily but isn't pandemic.

Scary? All over the news? Why I mention it...

If you are looking for a way to share your faith today...

1. Everyone is talking about "swine flu". Just like swine flu, sin is a disease that knows no boarders, can be carried by anyone, can be deadly, and the best defense is to continually wash yourself clean (with the forgiveness of Jesus).

2. If there is a cure, or treatment to make someone less susceptible to a disease, wouldn't you want to get it. There is a cure for the destructive consequences of sin, it is to repent and turn from sin (quit playing with swine like activities), ask God's forgiveness, and then accept His power to live above sinning. We won't ever be perfect - true, but we can live a life without any know intentional sin against our Lord. (see Titus 2:11-14 as just one example of many).

3. If you need a conversation starter or a way to transition into a spiritual conversation - after "so what do you think about all this swine flu stuff", or "have you heard about all the illness and death this 1 disease is causing", simply ask one of the following...

• "It's amazing to think we can't even guarantee we will wake up tomorrow"
• "what do you think happens when you die"
• "what do you think happens when someone leaves this world"
• "whether it's swine flu or not everyone (100% - 10 out of 10 people) will die someday and eternity is a really long time"
• "we will be dead a lot longer than we are alive on this planet make sure you have the right answer"

All of these are ways to get people thinking about eternity, and then we can share our hope that for all who call on the name of Jesus (trust in Him alone for our salvation), who repent and turn from their sins, and agree to live for God on His terms, we have the hope of avoiding hell and finding heaven for eternity. We also find God's Holy Spirit to give us strength, comfort, and peace in the middle of every "scare" of life.

Share your faith in Jesus today - tell your salvation story - and tell how you repented and accepted Jesus so they could do it too.

100% of everyone you meet today will die and face eternal death, but Jesus has provided a cure for all mankind. Let's win the world for Jesus, share your faith, and plant a seed, God can make it grow.

Live holy, preach Jesus!

The Shanty Remodel - great thought from an email

Source: A.B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, in his book Wholly Sanctified. Contributor: Jim Luthy

In the upper portion of New York City, many citizens may often have noticed, especially in the past years, a great number of miserable shanties standing on the choicest sites. Though perhaps on the corner of a splendid new avenue or looking out on a magnificent prospect, the houses were utterly unworthy of their sites.

Suppose that a millionaire should want to purchase a site, and the owner should begin, before giving possession, to repair the old shanty for the new owner, putting fresh thatch on the miserable roof and a new coat of whitewash on the dirty walls. How the purchaser would laugh at him and say, "My friend, I do not want your miserable old wreck of a tenement fixed up like this. At the best, it will only be a shanty when you have done all you can to it, and I will never live in it. All I want is the ground, the site, and when I get it I will raze the old heap of rubbish to the foundations and dig deep down to the solid rock before I build my splendid mansion. I will then build from the base my own new house according to my own magnificent plan. I do not want a vestige of your house; all that I require is the location."

This is exactly what God wants of us and waits to do in us. Each of us has a splendid site for a heavenly temple. It looks out upon eternity and commands a view of all that is glorious in the possibilities of existence. The house that is built upon it now, however, is a worthless wreck; it is past improving. Our patching and repairing is worse than waste. What God wants of us is simply that we give him the possibilities of our lives and let him build upon them a temple of holiness which he will make his own abode and which he will let us dwell in with him as his happy guests in the house of the Lord forever.
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Salvationists & fellow followers of Jesus Christ - Live holy, preach Jesus!

Can you become holy?

Over the past few weeks it has become obvious that some in my corps don't view holiness the same way I (or the Salvation Army) understand it so I thought I'd use this article to stir up some discussion.

This article was written by Chris Bounds and Keith Drury in a blog from September 2003, both professors at Indiana Wesleyan University. Please feel free to comment - I'd love your thoughts.

Can You Become a “Fully Devoted Follower of Christ?

John Wesley, like many of the early church fathers before him, preached that it is possible in this life to experience God’s power in such a way that we are actually able to live a love-filled obedient life. He taught that through God’s power we could be enabled to actually obey the two greatest commandments—loving God completely and loving neighbor as ourselves. The term for this experience has shifted through the years and has included Perfect love, the Upper Room Experience, being filled with the Spirit, baptism with the Holy Ghost, the deeper life, the higher way, Entire Sanctification, and Holiness. The current edition of this ageless notion is probably best represented in the term, “Fully devoted follower of Christ.” So what do you think? Can a person become a fully devoted follower of Christ? In this life? Is it possible? If so, how? The following are the seven answers most common in today’s church.

1. Seek now and receive by faith. Becoming a fully devoted follower of Christ is possible right now for you and you are urged to seek this life now by consecrating your all to God and receiving this second work of grace now by faith. (Historically, this has been the view of the Holiness Movement as associated with Pheobe Palmer and The Wesleyan Church.)

2. Keep seeking until you receive. a fully devoted follower of Christ is possible before death or old age, but you cannot experience it just by asking and believing—God can cleanse and fill you in His own good timing and thus you should keep on seeking until God responds with a second work of grace enabling this life of power and purity. (Although John Wesley’s teaching here is greatly debated, many scholars would contend this was Wesley’s view.)

3. Gradual growth process. While it is possible to become a fully devoted follower of Christ in this life, it can be achieved only after many years of a gradual process of spiritual growth—putting off sin and putting on deeds of righteousness through Christ’s power. By putting sins to death and moving gradually closer to Christ you can eventually—usually after many years—become a fully devoted follower of Christ. Your job now is to follow the Spirit’s leading in one area at a time. (This is the generally held position of The United Methodist Church, at least those who take seriously their Methodism, such as Thomas C. Oden.)

4. A sustainable experience with momentary lapses. Becoming a fully devoted follower of Christ can be the normative experience in a believer’s life. The Holy Spirit enables a believer to suppress the sin nature and live in sustained victory over it. However, because the root of sin remains until death, there will be moments in which sin will cloud or diminish victory. Sin or disobedience is seen as an exception, rather than the rule of Christian living. (This is the classic understanding of holiness in Keswick theology.)

5. A momentary but unsustainable experience. Becoming a fully devoted follower of Christ can be experienced in moments or short periods of life, but can’t be sustained for the long haul. There are times when a believer can truly act out of the complete love of God and the love of neighbor, untainted by selfishness and pride, but the “old man” is too strong to be completely vanquished in life. (This would represent a modern evangelical Lutheran perspective, as seen in the work of Gerhard Forde. Some scholars would argue this was Martin Luther’s position.)

6. Worthy goal but impossible dream. While it is clearly impossible in this life to ever actually become a fully devoted follower of Christ you should head that direction anyway, trusting God to deliver you increasingly from sinful thoughts, words and deeds, and gradually to empower you in love—but you will never get there: you will never become fully devoted. Holiness is a journey of devotion—not a destination you ever actually achieve. (This view represents well the position of Reformed theology and can be seen in the work of John Calvin, Reinhold Niebuhr, J. I. Packer, and Sinclair Ferguson.)

7. Holiness of Christ. All humans—including Christians—are so sinful at the core that even becoming a partially devoted follower to Christ can’t even be achieved in this life—rather true Christians should confess our sinfulness and realize that God has imputed Christ’s righteousness to us—God can’t see my sinfulness, but sees only the holiness of Christ; holiness is about Christ, not me. (While this view enjoys some degree of popularity in contemporary evangelicalism, it has not been held historically by credible and respected orthodox theologians. Some have placed Martin Luther and/or John Calvin in this camp by focusing on their understanding of imputed righteousness. It may be that because Luther, and to a much lesser degree Calvin, focused so much attention on our objective standing before God, and he was preoccupied with it, his understanding of imparted righteousness has been missed or inadvertently dismissed by his theological heirs, leading to this perspective today. Luther’s primary focus was on justification, but he does address sanctification.)
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Which do you believe? What you believe will affect how you live so think about.

I look forward to your comments.

Live holy, preach Jesus!

Capital Punishment of Sin

I don’t recall the source of this illustration in some old notes, but it’s good none the less…

Thinking of the analogy of execution (of sin), killing them, here are some thoughts about treating our sins to capital punishment. First, you have to pronounce them guilty. This is important. Denying that something is sin only increases its power over us and decreases our joy and usefulness to God. Call it what it is. That bad attitude, that bitterness, that griping, those thoughts… if the Bible calls it sin, so should you.

So now that you’ve declared the sins as guilty, you need to take care of them. You have to starve them. They’ll fight, they’ll be nasty, they’ll scream and holler. But you need to starve the sources. Whatever tempts you, stay away from it. Whatever leads you to argue with someone in your head, get away from it. Sin needs to be fed to be dangerous. The battle for sin is first won or lost in the mind before it’s ever acted out. Learn to control your thoughts.

Now, you have to practice corporal punishment. That is, be prepared to suffer. Some cave in at withdrawal. Some can’t picture their lives victorious, so it never happens. Sometimes living without sin hurts. Of course, living with it hurts more. Be willing to suffer. Hebrews 12: 4 says, “In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” It’s a battle, but the victory is promised to us.

Next, to treat sin like a prisoner on death row, neglect your sins. Don’t dwell on them. Don’t treat them like they deserve some special place in your life. You’ve already starved them, now just pay no attention to them. Don’t remind yourself of their supposed power. Understand they are forgiven and in the past. Understand that you are forgiven. They don’t need to be in your life or in your thoughts. Let them wither away by neglect.

And lastly, replace them. It’s not enough just to be so concentrated on your sins that you forget Who forgave them. Some people are so bogged down by the thoughts of their sins. I think of Martin Luther before he was converted. He was so overwhelmed with guilt, that he continually went to his bishop for confession. The issues were things like, having too comfortable a chair or getting too good a night’s sleep. Well, the bishop grew so tired of his whinings that he said, “Look, Luther, I don’t want to hear your sins anymore until you do something worth confessing.”

Clearly, God has better things for you than to dwell on things that need forgiving, and things that don’t. Focus on Him. Set your mind on things above. Fix your eyes on Jesus, not always on yourself. Spend time with Him. Yes, ask Him about what needs to change in your life, most certainly. But replace thoughts of your sin or guilt with thoughts of the Lord.

Declare them guilty! Starve them! Make them suffer! Neglect them! Replace them. This is how to live as Christians with circumcised hearts. Yes, every person has an appointment with death. Well, so do your sins. Deal with them. Put them to death. Then you will live.

Live holy, preach Jesus!

3 simple rules to keep from backsliding...

When Billy Sunday (former baseball player) was converted to Christ, a Christian man put his arm around his shoulder and said, "Billy, there are three simple rules I can give you, and if you hold to them, no one will ever write BACKSLIDER after your name.

1. Take 15 minutes a day to listen to God talking to you.
2. Take 15 minutes each day to talk to God.
3. Take 15 minutes each day to talk to others about God."

Not bad advice, try it today.

Live holy, preach Jesus!

Captain's Holiness verses for today.

Job 28:28 says... 'The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.' "

Lord give me the ability to have a holy reverential fear of you alone, and the desire to live right for You, for me, and for those around me.

Hebrews 12:14 [ Warning Against Refusing God ] Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

The greatest way to empower your verbally sharing the gospel, is to back it up with a holy life. Without holiness no one will see the Lord - with the witness of a transforming life of holiness, someone may find the Lord at work in you today!

John 5:19 Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

Here's a prayer we can pray from Jesus's teaching - Father, help us to see what You're doing and do what we're seeing.

11 Questions from William Booth

William Booth had 11 Questions for the Weekly Self-Examination of the Soul.

How must you answer them before God?....

“Examine yourselves to see whether you are holding to your faith. Test yourselves.” (2 Corinthians 13:5 RSV)

1. Am I habitually guilty of any known sin? Do I practice or allow myself any thought, word or deed that I know to be wrong?

2. Am I so the master of my bodily appetites as to have no condemnation? Do I allow myself any indulgence that is injurious to my holiness, growth in knowledge, obedience, or usefulness?

3. Are my thoughts and feelings such that I should not be ashamed to hear them published before God?

4. Does the influence of the world cause me to do or say things that are unlike Christ?

5. Do my tempers cause me to act, or feel, or say things that I see afterward are contrary to that love that I ought to [show] always to those about me?

6. Am I doing all in my power for the salvation of sinners? Do I feel concern about their danger and pray and work for their salvation as if they were my children?

7. Am I fulfilling the vows I have made to God in my acts of consecration or at the penitent-form?

8. Is my example in harmony with my profession?

9. Am I conscious of any pride or haughtiness in my manner or bearing?

10. Do I conform to the fashions and customs of the world, or do I show that I despise them?

11. Am I in danger of being carried away with worldly desire to be rich or admired?

Selected material from: Chosen to Be a Soldier - Orders and Regulations for Soldiers of The Salvation Army 1977 (pp. 17-18)

Quote of the Day

There are many who are interested in the cause of Christ, and who are pleased to see it prosper in their corps, their church, their city, their country. But there are few who bear the burden of the world upon their souls day and night, who make His cause in every clime their very own, … who feel it an awful shame and a consuming sorrow, if victory is not continually won in His name.

– - Samuel Logan Brengle