Thursday, December 31, 2009

Dr Was (Daily Rations with a Smile) 2010


WELCOME TO THE WORLD'S FIRST ON-LINE COMIC LITURGY (since 2003)

Read through the Bible in a year with us following the Life Journal Reading Plan.

On this first page of our site are the most recent comics that we have posted on-line: http://drwas.blogspot.com/

If you would like to read through the Bible in a year with us, you may either click on the appropriate month on the right hand column of our web page (http://drwas.blogspit.com) or send us an e-mail (erations@sheepspeak.com) to have them delivered every Monday to your e-mail in-box.

If you want to view comics on a certain topic, either for your bulletins, briefs, or publications, you are welcome to peruse them by category. The categories are listed on the right. Simply click on them. You are welcome to use any of our comics free of charge, we would just like to know about it so if you wouldn't mind sending us an email (drwas@sheepspeak.com ) when you do that would be wonderful.

Sincerely,

Captain Michael Ramsay

Dr Was (Daily Rations with a Smile) Jan 1

Click here for more scriptures and comics: http://drwas.blogspot.com/

Click here to read the scriptures for today: Genesis 1-2 and Luke 1

Dr Was (Daily Rations with a Smile) Jan 2

Click here for more comics and scriptures: http://drwas.blogspot.com/

Click here to read the daily scriptures: Genesis 3-5 and Luke 2

Dr Was (Daily Rations with a Smile) Jan 3

Click the daily scriptures to read them: Genesis 6-8 and Luke 3

Click here for more daily scriptures and comics: http://drwas.blogspot.com/




Elijah in "Chariots of Fire"

Dr Was (Daily Rations with a Smile) Jan 4

More Comics: http://drwas.blogspot.com/

Genesis 9-11 and Luke 4




The angle of the LORD is a right angle

Dr Was (Daily Rations with a Smile) Jan 5

More Dr Was comics: http://drwas.blogspot.com/

Genesis 12-14 and Luke 5

Dr Was (Daily Rations with a Smile) Jan 6

more Dr Was comics: http://drwas.blogspot.com/

Genesis 15-17 and Luke 6

Monday, December 28, 2009

Martyred on Christmas Eve!

From Commissioner Joe Noland's blog
via armybarmy

Just reflecting on the murder of Major Philip Wise on Christmas Eve and the story being upstaged in the media by Obama’s vacation in Hawaii (where we are right now), and the aborted terrorist act on the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. Had this been a slow news weekend, this story would have gained national, if not international attention because of its emotional ties to Christmas, The Salvation Army being synonymous with Christmas and the fact Wise was in the process of “Doing the Most Good!” – “Heart to God, and Hand to Man” – “Sharing is Caring.” Perhaps even assisting the family members of those who took his life – After the shooting, “The suspects were seen running toward a government-funding housing project” in the same community where the Major was known for his work with disadvantaged children.

It has occurred to me that we have the power of the Internet at our disposal and should use it to get the more important message behind this story out, overriding the boring, overrated, bad-news non-stories that are blocking it. For what its worth, here is my take. If so inclined, copy this News Flash and email it to your circle of friends as a chain letter, asking that the chain not be broken.

News Flash!
Salvation Army Major Martyred on Christmas Eve While “Doing the Most Good!”

Upstaged by an aborted terrorist attack on Flight 253, this story has not received the international media attention it deserves. Read about it at the following link: http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2009/dec/25/majors-shooting-tragedy-community-say-authorities/?latest

Poignant to this story is the following news clip: “The Wises had just adopted their children — ages 4, 6 and 8 — last year, Johnson said. The three were siblings who came from an abusive family. They were receiving counseling after their father’s death.” These children were witnesses to their new father’s shooting.

Further, after the shooting, “The suspects were seen running toward a government-funding housing project” in the same community where “the Major was known for his work with disadvantaged children.”

Sound familiar? It was all beginning to take shape on that Christmas Eve some two millenniums ago. “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” “Crucify Him!” “Forgive them for they know not what they do.”

These are Words from Scripture describing the unfolding of Jesus’ journey on this planet, ending with an act of martyrdom. Isn't this what Philip Wise's journey is all about? What is the message of Christmas? “Peace on Earth, Goodwill toward men” – Good News! Fox News and CNN have missed this message in their reporting, with an emphasis on the bad news! Let’s make up where they have missed out. Send this News Flash to your circle of friends and ask them to keep the Love Chain going.

JN
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www.sheepspeak.com

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Luke 2: 21-39: Harold, Harold, and Jesus

Presented to Swift Current Corps on December 27, 2009
By Captain Michael Ramsay

The other day our daughter shared with us a short chapter book that she read in school. I believe it is called ‘Harold and Harold’ but I could find no record of it on-line – it is a Canadian book anyway. I believe that it is set on the east coast. There is a family. The father is a fisherman. They live by an area of the ocean that can be particularly treacherous for boats in a storm near a place called Ledgy Island. One day – as I understand the story having only heard it second hand – a young boy named Harold and his pet parrot, who is also named Harold, get up early. The boy Harold goes to play in the attic and the parrot Harold flies to the dangerous Ledgy Island. As the other members of the family wake up and get going for the day a family member calls out, “where’s Harold?” and the voice from the attic replies, “on Ledgy Island” – the parents start to panic. There is a storm brewing and Ledgy Island is a very dangerous place in the storm so they call out the search parties to look for him on and off the island, they call all their relatives, they call the RCMP, they call the coast guard, they call everyone they can think of to help find Harold the boy whom they fear must be lost in the storm. Now of course, it is Harold the bird who did leave for the island but arrived there without incident: he is fine. The community is searching high and low for Harold the boy however, who never did leave the safety of his own home. At some point during the day, Harold the boy, who is playing in the attic hears all the noise as the searchers are gathering below and decides to come down and check it out – it sounds like a party – he walks into the midst of everyone and no one notices him. He sees people watching TV with his face on the TV, he sees the RCMP running around the living room. He sees people everywhere and He sees neighbours bringing over food and Harold figures this definitely must be a party. He stays in the middle of all this activity as – unbeknownst to him – everyone is looking for him and then Harold notices that everyone looking and sounding sad. Nobody is having fun at this party. Some people are crying; nobody looks happy so he pipes up in the middle of this crowd and says, “Some party this is!” It is only then – when they take a break from what they were doing that they see what is right in front of their eyes and they notice that Harold is actually standing in their midst – He was never really lost.

This is not unlike the world and 1st century Israel with the Advent of Jesus. The Israelites, the priests and the Pharisees were actively looking for their Messiah (Cf. Matthew 11:1-11 and Luke 23); they were actively looking for the Christ who would deliver them from the evils of oppression (Cf. Psalms of Solomon 17-18 and Genesis 49:10; Psalm 22; Isaiah 6:9-10; 7:14; 9:5-7; 40:2-5; 53:1-12; 61:1-3; Micah 5:2; Hosea 11:1; etc.).[1] Israel in Palestine had been militarily occupied by a number of different countries now for much, much, much longer than it was ever an independent united Kingdom. They were constantly looking for the leader who would deliver the people from the consequences of their sins – which is exactly what a number of the prophets said would lead to this occupation (Jeremiah, Isaiah, Amos, etc.; see also Leviticus 26:14-46). Simeon and Anna, however through the power of the Holy Spirit, looked up and noticed that our saviour was right in their midst and Anna proceeded to share the good news with everyone there.

This is not unlike the world today; we are called to be like Simeon and like Anna. The Lord has revealed to us through His Holy Spirit Christ our Lord. All we need to do is look up and see that today in essence Christ is here standing in our midst and then when we see him we must like Anna go forth and proclaim his salvation to all who will hear us. It is my prayer today that we will all look up, like the party around Harold, like Simeon, and like Anna. It is my prayer that today we will all look up and recognize that our Salvation is at hand. Jesus truly is standing in our midst.

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http://www.sheepspeak.com/

http://www.sheepspeak.com/Michael_Ramsays_opinion.htm

http://www.sheepspeak.com/sermons.htm

Friday, December 25, 2009

Salvation Army Officer Martyred on Xmas Eve

CNN) -- A Salvation Army major was shot dead in front of his three children on Christmas Eve in North Little Rock, Arkansas, authorities said.

Maj. Philip Wise, 40, was gunned down Thursday. He was found lying by the back entrance of a Salvation Army facility, said police spokesman Sgt. Terry Kuykendall.

Wise apparently dropped two bell ringers off at home and returned to the Salvation Army building with his three children, ages 4, 6 and 8. Two men carrying handguns approached them and demanded money before shooting Wise, Kuykendall said.

The suspects fled on foot.

read more: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/12/25/arkansas.salvation.army.slaying/

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM PREMIER BRAD WALL

Two thousand years ago, a Saviour was born, heralded as bringing good news of great joy to all people.

Jesus came to give us a message of hope, peace, and healing.

He told us to love one another, and taught us how to reach out to others, especially those less fortunate than ourselves.

Saskatchewan is a great place to live, and getting even better. But there are still those in Saskatchewan and many around the world who don't have the privilege of looking forward to a merry Christmas.

We can all do our part in the coming year to ensure each person in this province has a reason to celebrate.

We can reach out to someone in need locally, through hard working groups like the Salvation Army, or by supporting an organization that reaches out to other countries to offer help and hope

read more: http://www.gov.sk.ca/news?newsId=4114ae18-1871-44d6-b83e-ee979c6b191c

The General's Christmas Message

All My Heart Rejoices


WHAT a night! The night our Saviour was born! A night to rejoice with all our hearts!

Sweet angel voices, sounding far and near, announced his birth: Christ is born! It was as though the entire sky announced this matchless message. Joy filled the air. Joy-bells still ring to hail his coming.

If we listen carefully, our ear attuned, we can still hear the holy baby’s first cry from the manger in Bethlehem. It is as though from birth he has been calling us, entreating, pleading with us to flee from the snares and dangers that await our souls. ‘Come to me,’ he says. ‘Leave all that grieves and burdens you. I can offer freedom. I can give you all you need.’

So let us accept his divine invitation, you and I together. Let us do so without delay. He invites us all. He calls to the lowly and the great alike. We cannot impress him with our education or our income, so whoever we are we approach him together with awe and wonder as equals. He invites us to commit ourselves to him. He wants us to return the love he offers us all. The Christmas star, high and bright in the sky, is a hope-filled sign of divine love.

Coming to the newborn Christ-child is a signal that we have come to our senses. We come to him, deciding to live in obedience to him, and finding our hope of Heaven in him. He offers us the matchless prospect of living with him for ever. Who else promises matchless joy both now and in all eternity?

For all these reasons my heart rejoices. Christ is born!



By General Shaw Clifton
with acknowledgements to Paulus Gerhardt (1607-76)
and 'The Song Book of The Salvation Army', No 73

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www.sheepspeak.com

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Magnificat!

Prominent theologians James Dunn and Tom Wright, the Bishop of Durham, drive home the point in many articles and books that faith isn’t just a vague idea of or belief in something. Faith is an action word. Faith and faithfulness are forever intertwined.[3] One cannot say they love God and not show it by loving their neighbour (Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 10:27, 18:18-29). If you have faith in Him, you will be faithful and even when we are unfaithful, Christ’s faithfulness makes our faith(fullness) possible (Romans 3:3,4, see also Genesis Romans 1:16-17, Romans 2:1-16, Hebrews 11). It is the faithfulness of Christ that led to humanity’s salvation. Faith is an action and the action of faith during Advent is waiting. Christmas is coming.

In our story today something very interesting is happening (Luke 1:46-56). A couple of weeks ago we read about how Zechariah found out that his wife Elisabeth (who was barren up to that point in time) is now – in her old age! – going to have a baby (Luke 1:5-25, 68-79; see also Genesis 11:30, 17:15ff and 1 Samuel 1).[4] And now Mary, a much younger relative of Elisabeth’s, has also found out that she is going to have a baby (Luke 1:26-38). It was amazing that Elisabeth is going to have a baby because Elisabeth is barren and well into her old age (Luke 1:35) but it is even more amazing that Mary is going to have a baby not because Mary is old and barren because she isn’t. She is quite young. She is actually a teenager but young Mary – who is now pregnant – young Mary has never been with a man in that way (see Luke 1:34).

read the sermon: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2009/12/luke-146-56-christmas-is-coming.html

read more sermons off the wall: http://www.sheepspeak.com/sermons.htm

read other articles: http://www.sheepspeak.com/Michael_Ramsays_opinion.htm

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www.sheepspeak.com

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Could this be the house where Jesus played?

By Diaa Hadid, Associated Press, in Nazareth
Cited from The Independent
Tuesday, 22 December 2009


Days before Christmas, archaeologists have unveiled what they say are the remains of the first dwelling in Nazareth that can be dated back to the time of Christ – a find that could shed new light on what the hamlet was like when, according to the New Testament, Jesus lived there as a boy.

Based on clay and chalk shards found at the site, the dwelling appeared to house a "simple Jewish family" said Yardena Alexandre, excavations director at the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Nazareth holds a cherished place in Christianity. Christian tradition holds it to be the town where Jesus grew up and where an angel told Mary she would bear the child of God. "This may well have been a place that Jesus and his contemporaries were familiar with," Ms Alexandre said.

read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/could-this-be-the-house-where-jesus-played-1847228.html

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www.sheepspeak.com

Monday, December 21, 2009

Organized Chrisitan resistance in Nazi Germany

From The Nazi Parallel: The National Security State and the Churches
by Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman

In Nazi Germany ...a primary aim of the controlling leadership was the destruction of any organizational threat that might challenge the attainment of "state" ends; and unions, students and professional organizations, and community groups and political parties were infiltrated, harassed, destroyed, or brought under state control. The most powerful bases of organized resistance in Nazi Germany were the churches, which provided the "most active, most effective, and most consistent" opposition to Nazi terror. The churches were so deeply rooted in their communities that it was difficult to attack them openly, although the Nazis tried from the beginning to undermine and destroy church authority. The churches were not only the first large organizations left intact that began to resist Hitlerism as organizations, "they also remained unique in this respect throughout the period from 1933 to 1945, although their resistance remained limited to certain issues and methods. Throughout World War II one important segment of the Protestant Church (the Confessing Church) refused to pray for military victory, and by the war's end many hundreds of clergymen had died in concentration camps.

The analogy here with Latin American experience is striking. . .

read more: http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Herman%0/NaziParallelFascism_Herman.html

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www.sheepspeak.com

Friday, December 18, 2009

Start Stomping

JAC # 64 (December 2009 - January 2010)
by Major Stephen Court

http://www1.salvationarmy.org.uk/uki/www_uki.nsf/vw-issue/0F73D227F83BC9D38025766900332492?opendocument&id=5C46762EE4B97FA880257669002F15DE


DUSK fell on the remote hills and sparse treeline, playing tricks with your vision. Was that a wild animal skirting across the valley or, more innocuously, a shadow? As night settled into its quiet somnolence, the highly decorated Commander parachuted into enemy territory. The Reclamation Operation began. And that, folks, is the beginning of the end of human history. Jesus undertook to reclaim enemy land and re-establish the Kingdom of God on Earth.

The Salvation Army has a healthy view of spiritual warfare. . .

read more: http://www.armybarmy.com/JAC/article14-64.html

read more in this issue of JAC: http://www.armybarmy.com/jac.html

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www.sheepspeak.com

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Something about Mary

JAC # 64 (December 2009 - January 2010)
by Captain Danielle Strickland

At an afterschool club in an inner city neighbourhood we spoke recently about Mary. A friend of mine refers to Mary as the Catholic boogieman… she comes out at Christmas and scares all the protestants!

The fear around worshiping Mary often crowds out a proper response at the amazing reality of Mary’s life story and witness. And I’d like to consider a couple of important things about her.

Use them to reflect, emulate and well, just for plain inspiration.

Scripture: Luke 1

Gender.
It is worth some consideration that the Jewish people have been waiting in silence for 400 years since the last prophetic announcement of a coming Messiah. That’s a long time to wait - exacerbated, I’m sure, by the occupation they now find themselves in, the fever for a Messiah had not been hotter. Apart from the miraculous intervention of oil in the Temple during the Maccabean revolt (which is symbolized in Hannakah), there was stunning silence from the Heavens. Until, Elizabeth prayed and Mary obeyed.

Then, all of heaven was loosed on earth, and the world would never be the same. In a middle-eastern culture of degradation and oppression, in a religious system that pushed down women to the level of a dog – God shows up at their request, at their response and through their loving obedience to Him. This would be the time to write ‘wow’ in the margin of your Bible. It’s epic.

William Booth (founder of The Salvation Army) once famously said, ‘(some of) my best men are women’...


read more: http://www.armybarmy.com/JAC/article13-64.html

read more in this issue of JAC: http://www.armybarmy.com/jac.html

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http://www.sheepspeak.com/

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

From Army Barmy

http://www.armybarmy.com/blog.html

Here is an interesting piece from the WEEKLY STANDARD (http://www.weeklystandard.com/) - a review of Gariepy's CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION - that gives a nice view of The Salvation Army from the outside:
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Soldiers of Mercy
The Salvation Army and the religion of compassion.
by Mark Tooley
12/14/2009, Volume 015, Issue 13

Christianity in Action
The History of the International Salvation Army
by Henry Gariepy
Eerdmans, 308 pp., $25

Many Americans know nothing of the Salvation Army beyond its Christmas red kettles and bell-ringers in shopping malls. Or they may recall the 1955 musical Guys and Dolls, where gangster Marlon Brando pursues pious Jean Simmons, a "sergeant" at the Save a Soul Mission. But the Army, founded in mid-19th-century Great Britain as a splinter from Methodism, is a lively international denomination in 117 countries with a rich history and expansive cultural and charitable impact.
In the United States alone, it raises $1.2 billion annually (not including the $1.6 billion bequest of McDonald's heiress Joan Kroc in 2003), eclipsing the annual receipts of many major denominations. Internationally, it has 17,000 "officers," over a million "soldiers," and many more volunteers. Its schools employ 16,000 teachers and teach a half-million students. Every year the Army's missions feed, clothe, or otherwise assist millions of poor or displaced persons and victims of natural disasters.
Salvationists are a strange church. They don't have clergy but uniformed officers with military ranks, headed by a London-based general. They are evangelical and Wesleyan, with typical low-church moral strenuousness. Officers must forswear liquor, gambling, smoking, and profanity, among other vices. But like Quakers, they don't have sacraments; there is no baptism or eucharist. And unlike many conservative churches, women have always served in leadership and preached.
Famously, the Salvation Army's founder William Booth promised to offer the downtrodden "soap, soup, and salvation." Booth was born in early Victorian England and, at age 15, vowed that "God shall have all there is of William Booth." He was ordained a Methodist, but the church attempted to restrict his evangelistic technique.
"No, never!" reputedly shouted Catherine Booth at a church conference and, embracing her husband, they departed Methodism together to found their new movement, potentially "without a friend and without a farthing."
Booth found his destiny while preaching to street people under a revivalist tent. At first he sent converts to local churches, but the impoverished new believers either did not want to go or were unwelcome in middle-class congregations. So Booth ran his own mission, devoted to evangelism and social work, which in 1878 became The Salvation Army. His forceful and better-educated wife was his closest adviser and was, herself, a popular preacher. She also helped to design the Army's earliest uniforms and its battle flag, a tricolor declaring, in crimson, the motto "Blood and Fire."
Early Salvationists eagerly embraced military lingo. Prayers were "knee drills," tithe envelopes were "firing cartridges," and church buildings were "citadels." When entering a new country, Salvationists "opened fire." Booth was autocratically the first "general." Its newspaper was (and is) War Cry, now circulated to over two million.. Converts sign "A Soldier's Covenant," affirming their loyalty to Christ; deceased Salvationists are "promoted to Glory." Prospective clergy are "cadets." Naturally, "Onward, Christian Soldiers" became a favorite Salvationist hymn.
Like all good armies, the Salvationists have always had marching bands, which were crucial to attracting crowds to urban street revivals. By 1883, the Army already had 400 brass bands in Great Britain and, for nearly a century, even its own instrument factory. Today, it has 2,000 bands around the world. Despite the music and martial rhetoric, Salvationists in Victorian England were often assaulted by angry mobs, many of them enraged by the Army's opposition to booze. Army buildings were attacked and some municipalities even forbade Army marches. In 1882 669 Salvationists were assaulted, one third of them women; 86 were imprisoned, evidently for defying anti-Army ordinances. Of course, Salvationists saw such harassment as validating their war on the Devil's kingdom.
Although supposedly nonpolitical, Salvationists did have political prestige among the Victorians. The Army's 1885 Purity Crusade against sex trafficking produced a petition with nearly 400,000 signatures and resulted in Parliament raising the age of consent and criminalizing solicitation. Combating international sex trafficking remains a major Salvationist emphasis today. Confronted by Social Darwinians distressed over the Army's attention to the vulnerable and disabled, Booth responded, "They believe in the survival of the fit. The Salvation Army believes in the salvation of the unfit." The Army's ministry to Britain's poor was so effective that the Church of England sought a partnership in the 1880s, but the talks failed--partly because Salvationists rejected sacraments and affirmed female preachers.
But the Established Church's overture illustrated Booth's transition from outcast former Methodist to senior Christian leader and humanitarian. The trajectory resembled the life of Methodism's founder, John Wesley, whom Booth revered. Unlike Wesley, Booth was a fecund father, with eight children, most of whom helped spread the message, especially to America. Also unlike Wesley, Booth had an extremely happy marriage, and his preacher wife was herself a religious celebrity until her death in 1890. Booth became friends with the powerful, praying with Cecil Rhodes, having an audience with the Japanese emperor, visiting President McKinley, appearing before the U.S. Senate. He was recognized by Theodore Roosevelt as a "steam engine in trousers."
Booth urged a then-young Winston Churchill, as home secretary, to widen Salvationist access to prisoners. "Am I converted?" Churchill asked. "You are not converted, but I think you are convicted," Booth responded, to which Churchill smiled in return. Rudyard Kipling, watching the white-haired, long-bearded Booth receive an honorary degree from Oxford, pronounced that he had the "head of Isaiah and the fire of the Prophet." The general "laid down his sword" in 1912, having preached between 50-60,000 sermons across 60 years. "The promises of God are sure if you only believe," were said to be among his final words. The funeral was nearly a state occasion. Queen Mary quietly attended, seated next to a former prostitute, who told her of Booth, "He cared for the likes of us."
William Gladstone had once asked Booth how the autocratic Army would replace its general, pointing out that not even the pope appoints his successor, and that the Salvationists made no provision for "calamity, incapacity, or heresy" by their leader. Heeding his warning, Booth set up a High Council to intervene in such crises, while still appointing his capable son, Bramwell, to succeed him. Bramwell led the Army honorably until his illness in 1929, when the first High Council removed him in favor of a non-family member, the first of 16 commanding generals over the last 80 years. The second of these generals was Evangeline Booth, daughter of the founder, who returned home in New York, after her election, to a ticker tape parade. No American-born general was elected until 1994.
Today, three quarters of the Army's members are in the developing world, and the largest Army territory is Kenya, with 350,000 soldiers. The Army is the largest social institution in France (where it's government-funded) and one of the largest in Germany. War and tyrannies occasionally oust the Army, but almost always there's a return, including in Russia, China, and Eastern Europe. The Army is still kept out of North Korea and struggles in Burma; but Europe's increasing secularism is now seen as a major obstacle, with a recent general noting that Salvationists have to be "creative" in what was once the heart of Christendom. An Army "peace force" invaded Iraq in 2003, shortly after the U.S.-led invasion.
The Army operates in Muslim countries, but Henry Gariepy says almost nothing about Salvationists' relations with Islam: Presumably it downplays its Christian spiritual message in Muslim countries. There are moving accounts of Army martyrs to communism, especially in North Korea and China. Other martyrs gave their lives during World War II. When the Iron Curtain fell in 1989 oldsters in Eastern Europe welcomed back the Army, full of grateful memories from 50 years before. In 1978, Marxist guerrillas, having sighted mission stations as "soft targets," murdered two Salvationists in Rhodesia. In protest, the Army withdrew from the World Council of Churches, which was then funding the guerrilla armies as part of its "Program to Combat Racism."
Remarkably, unlike so many other Protestant groups and denominations, the Salvation Army has not gone theologically liberal. It remains pro-life and pro-traditional marriage while not compromising its core doctrines, and remaining mostly non-political. How the Army evaded the trends of mainline Protestantism would be an interesting story that this book does not tell. Presumably, its tight discipline and sacrificial spirit, not unlike many a Roman Catholic order, were key ingredients. The Army, despite its international membership and brilliant organization, has never sought or ever been a very large membership church. This book could have explained why. The Army, though believing in conversion, emphasizes service over evangelism, and often tacitly encourages its constituency to join or remain in other churches. Today it gains extensive government and other secular funding without wide controversy, partly because many are still unaware that Salvationists are an evangelical church.
Christianity in Action is written by a dedicated Salvation Army officer. It refers in passing to personality conflicts among officers across the century, and the occasional financial scandal. But overall it portrays a unified Army that is ever advancing across the field of spiritual combat. The story here is very informative, and often inspiring, if almost certainly incomplete.
Mark Tooley, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, is the author of Taking Back the United Methodist Church.
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Bust some souls.
God is here.
God help us all be humble.
Much grace,
sec

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www.sheepspeak.com

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Holy Leadership

JAC # 64 (December 2009 - January 2010)
by Colonel Raymond Finger

I do not think the intention of the Brengle Institute is to turn any of us into spiritual giants, but rather, through the weakness of our humanity, to help us simply live and experience the life of God more meaningfully.

I think, essentially, we all want to capture whatever it is that God might have for us. The reality is that, in your life and mine, we become so distracted by the daily demands and grind of ministry, we do to God, what we do to our family and ourselves. We do not give Him the attention sufficient to gain from Him the life He wants us to experience and live.

It ought to come as no surprise then, as a result, many Officers live without life. Many work so hard at trying to please people, the program and the Army, that we burn ourselves out and become lost in the maze, or is it haze, of Officership.

Ancient Roman legend tells of Quo Vadis, the great Roman hero who, upon entering Rome, hailed a hero after a mighty battle, rode in his chariot along the boulevard lined with thousands of cheering Romans.

Quo Vadis had instructed the servant who rode standing behind him, to hold the laurel above his head and to keep repeating, ‘Remember thou art only a man’.

Colleague Officers, allow me to say this in the generic sense:
Remember, thou art only a man.


read more: http://www.armybarmy.com/JAC/article12-64.html

read more in this issue of JAC: http://www.armybarmy.com/jac.html

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www.sheepspeak.com

Triune aspects of man in scripture

JAC # 64 (December 2009 - January 2010)
by Major David Laeger

I THESSALONIANS 5:23 PARAPHRASED

The apostle Paul, due to persecution, was able to stay in Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-9) for a short time, perhaps only three Sabbaths, but he wrote letters of comfort and correction to them about their endurance and accurate understanding of the Parousia of Christ. This verse sums up the manner of living in Christ until He comes.

read more: http://www.armybarmy.com/JAC/article10-64.html

read more in this issue of JAC: http://www.armybarmy.com/jac.html

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The Great Divide

JAC # 64 (December 2009 - January 2010)
by Captain Genevieve Peterson

Occasionally, a quirky TV show or top notch Matt Damon movie will have a story line involving Siamese twins. Inevitably, it leads to the question of how one pursues a romantic relationship with the one twin, while the other twin is left ‘tagging along’. The intimacy with the one is clearly hampered by the presence of the other. I can’t help but draw the same analogy when we consider the union of our two-fold mission of The Salvation Army, that of evangelism and social action. Booth once stated “if you want my social work you have got to have my religion; they are joined together like the Siamese twins, to divide them is to slay them."

Now most Salvationists would not want to divide the two to the point where we removed one completely. While it is not uncommon for Christian charities to lose their evangelical ties, The Salvation Army has been firm in remaining as strongly an evangelical movement as much as it has remained a forceful welfare movement. However as Salvationists, too often the temptation is to encourage the one, and while acknowledging the other, ignore and neglect the lesser valued. The result is a skewed mission that ‘almost’ looks right, but in reality becomes terribly inadequate. So how did Booth do it? How did he use the two wings of the bird with such ease? And why do we seem to have so much trouble?


read more: http://www.armybarmy.com/JAC/article9-64.html

read more in this issue of JAC: http://www.armybarmy.com/jac.html

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Sunday, December 13, 2009

Martin Luther's (definition of) Faith

Faith is not what some people think it is. Their human dream
is a delusion. Because they observe that faith is not followed by
good works or a better life, they fall into error, even though they
speak and hear much about faith. ``Faith is not enough,'' they
say, ``You must do good works, you must be pious to be saved.''
They think that, when you hear the gospel, you start working,
creating by your own strength a thankful heart which says, ``I
believe.'' That is what they think true faith is. But, because
this is a human idea, a dream, the heart never learns anything
from it, so it does nothing and reform doesn't come from this
`faith,' either.

Instead, faith is God's work in us, that changes us and gives
new birth from God. (John 1:13). It kills the Old Adam and makes us completely different people. It changes our hearts, our spirits,
our thoughts and all our powers. It brings the Holy Spirit with
it. Yes, it is a living, creative, active and powerful thing, this
faith. Faith cannot help doing good works constantly. It doesn't
stop to ask if good works ought to be done, but before anyone
asks, it already has done them and continues to do them without
ceasing. Anyone who does not do good works in this manner is an
unbeliever. He stumbles around and looks for faith and good
works, even though he does not know what faith or good works are. Yet he gossips and chatters about faith and good works with many
words.

Faith is a living, bold trust in God's grace, so certain of
God's favor that it would risk death a thousand times trusting in it.
Such confidence and knowledge of God's grace makes you happy,
joyful and bold in your relationship to God and all creatures. The
Holy Spirit makes this happen through faith. Because of it, you
freely, willingly and joyfully do good to everyone, serve
everyone, suffer all kinds of things, love and praise the God who
has shown you such grace. Thus, it is just as impossible to
separate faith and works as it is to separate heat and light from
fire! Therefore, watch out for your own false ideas and guard
against good-for-nothing gossips, who think they're smart enough
to define faith and works, but really are the greatest of fools.
Ask God to work faith in you, or you will remain forever without
faith, no matter what you wish, say or can do.

http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/luther-faith.txt

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Saturday, December 12, 2009

Life outside the Amusement Park

JAC # 64 (December 2009 - January 2010)
by Cory Harrison

One Englishman once said of us Americans, “The problem with you Americans in that you have to be so confoundedly happy all the time. You have dedicated yourself to the pursuit of happiness. You brag about it as if it is the supreme and ultimate goal of all existence. Surely there are more important things in life than just being happy.

I think the guy is kind of right, it is an American thing. Right along side of life and freedom, we put in our Declaration of Independence, the words and “the pursuit of happiness.”

“Americans are endowed with certain unalienable rights among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

And some people I know have been living up this pursuit of happiness at the highest level. There life is devoted to the pursuit of happiness. And isn’t it funny how people go about happiness?

One Salvationist buys a few homes to be happy while another moves into the slums to live with the poor for the same feeling.

One woman becomes a nun and another woman becomes a whore.

One young man tries to find happiness by body building while another young man tries to find happiness by turning to drugs and destroys his body.

One couple is convinced that happiness in children and they have 8 of them while another couple is convinced that children will get in the way of happiness and they go childless.

In a book entitled: “Conversion of Spiritual Journey” Malcolm Muggeridgesays this about happiness:

“Of all the different purposes set before mankind, the most disastrous is surly the pursuit of happiness. Slipped into the American Declaration of Independence along with life and liberty as if it is some unalienable right, almost slipped in at the last moment perhaps by accident. Happiness is like a young deer, fleet and beautiful. Hunt him and he becomes a poor frantic animal. And after the kill, just a poor piece of stinking flesh.”

C.S. Lewis in his book Screwtape Letters has the arch devil, Screwtape, advising his apprentices on how they should go about deceiving the humans. He tells them that the way you do it is this:

“Through an ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure.” “That” he said, “is the formula of destruction.”

read more: http://www.armybarmy.com/JAC/article8-64.html

read more in this issue of JAC: http://www.armybarmy.com/jac.html

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Who Cares?

JAC # 64 (December 2009 - January 2010)
by Cadet Sean Attard

Is the mighty rock seen in today’s religiously pluralistic society as being as secure as it might have been in William Booth’s day?

pluralism ˈploŏrəˌlizəm
noun
1 a condition or system in which two or more states, groups, principles, sources of authority, etc., coexist.
• a form of society in which the members of minority groups maintain their independent cultural traditions.

In Booth’s day, I say it is highly likely that they saw that Rock which represents Calvary as being more secure than we do today. Not only in Booth’s day, more precisely also in his place and his culture, which was English culture.

In Booth’s day, good, white, English Christians with names like Sawyer and Thompson and Fitzgerald had a sort of monopoly on religion. They were the only serious contenders out there. You only had two choices really – you were a respectable, upstanding British Christian citizen or you were a baby-killing, moonshine swilling, unwashed demoniac that was part of Charles Darwin’s lot.

In his essay, The Decline of Religion, C.S. Lewis says “… we must remember that a widespread and lively interest in a subject is precisely what we call a Fashion. And it is the nature of Fashions not to last.”

read more: http://www.armybarmy.com/JAC/article7-64.html

read more in this issue of JAC: http://www.armybarmy.com/jac.html

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Friday, December 11, 2009

Kaka and Co.


"The two senior players are Lucio and Kaka, who are religious fundamentalists, and that's spreading a message of rigour and sobriety, so that's something that Dunga has done ÿ he's changed the tone of the team. He's manoeuvred it away from being such a star-based vehicle and emphasized the collectivity of the team and collective sacrifice."



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FIFA warned Brazil for their post-Confederations Cup religious celebrations after Danish Football Federation chief spoke against it...Rahul Bali


07-Jul-2009 5:45:36 PM

Across the world, we often see football players show their religious faith, most famously done by Kaka with his “I belong to Jesus” message in the Champions League finals of 2007.


The FIFA rulebook states, “Players may not reveal clothing that shows slogans or adverts. If a player removes his jersey and reveals a political, religious or personal statement, he will be punished by the organisers of the respective tournament or by FIFA."


Interestingly, UEFA are fine with religious celebrations as their spokesperson said,"We tolerate itas long as it doesn't harm or offend any group, person or society."



Thursday, December 10, 2009

Luke 1:68-79: The Waiting Game

Presented to Swift Current Corps, 06 December 2009
By Captain Michael Ramsay

Advent. Last week was the first week of Advent. Does anyone know what Advent is? Advent is waiting. Who here likes to wait? Our Saskatchewan Roughriders have to wait until next year to play for the Grey Cup in Edmonton. Hopefully they will be playing in the game and hopefully they will be redeemed – next year in Edmonton.

The Israelites during the exile began using an expression in their Passover meal - ‘next year in Jerusalem’ – to express their hope that next year they will no longer be exiled, next year they will be restored to their homeland. “Next year in Jerusalem” was the rally cry of the exiled Hebrews just like “Next year in Edmonton” is becoming the rallying call for avid Roughriders fans. Advent – in the Christian calendar – is a time of waiting for that victory, that restoration. Advent recognizes 2 times of waiting actually: 1) A remembrance of waiting for the arrival of Christ, who was born around 2000 years ago – advent is a waiting for Christmas. 2) It is also a waiting for Jesus to return in all of his glory.

I was at the Advent lunch this week (they’re Thursdays at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church) and Pastor Greg Kiel, one of the Lutheran pastors, was speaking there. He told this joke about waiting:

A fellow was speaking to God and he said, “Lord, I have two questions for you, I was wondering if you could help me.

1) A Millennium, a thousand years, is a long time to us – how long is that time for an eternal God?”

A. “It is just a second”

2) “God, there is a lottery draw coming up next Saturday and I was wondering if I could help me win the lottery?”

A. “Just a second.”

Advent is a time of waiting.

read more: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2009/12/luke-168-79-next-year-in-edmonton.html

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Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Inspiring idea shares gifts with Salvation Army

Southwest Booster Published on December 7th, 2009

A Christmas party for a group of friends was unique in that the girls did not exchange gifts with one another but instead they decided to donate a gift to the Salvation Army. Captain Michael Ramsay from the Salvation Army, along with his daughter Sarah-Grace, accepts the gifts from Marissa Hilmoe, Nicole Willows, Sydney Gruetzner, Katie Braun, and Brooklyn Spanier. Missing from the photo is Shae Congdon.

Giving instead of receiving was the theme for a Christmas party celebrated by a group of local girls.

Marissa Hilmoe, 10, decided to host a Christmas party with a few of her closest friends. Instead of exchanging gifts with one another, her idea was to have each guest bring a gift to give to the Salvation Army.

This past week the girls personally delivered their gifts to the Salvation Army. They had a chance to tour the building with Captain Michael Ramsay, giving them a chance to see how many donations are needed and all of the work that goes into the Food Bank for feeding the hungry, not only at Christmas time but all year long.

Each girl came away with an appreciation of how fortunate they are.

http://www.swbooster.com/Living/People/2009-12-07/article-216054/Inspiring-idea-shares-gifts-with-Salvation-Army/1

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Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Oceans of Life

JAC # 64 (December 2009 - January 2010)
by Karyn Wishart

I want to start today by asking you a question, Is the ocean of life, today, as dark and stormy as it seemed to William Booth in his day? As you think about your response, I’d like to read to you a portion of William Booth’s reflection upon what he thought the world looked like in his day.

“On one of my recent journeys as I gazed from the coach window, I was led into a train of thought concerning the conditions of the multitudes around me. They were living carelessly in the most open and shameless rebellion against God, without a thought for their eternal welfare. As I looked out the window, I seemed to see them all….

Millions of people all around me given up to their drink and their pleasure, their dancing and their music, their business and their anxieties, their politics and their troubles. Ignorant – wilfully ignorant in many cases – and in other instances knowing all about the truth and not caring at all. But all of them, the whole mass of them, sweeping on and up in their blasphemies and devilries to the throne of God. While my mind was thus engaged, I had a vision.”

I’m wondering if this seems to be a picture that we still view daily.

Do we see a world that is filled with utter darkness that creates absolute heaviness?

read more: http://www.armybarmy.com/JAC/article5-64.html

read more in this issue of JAC: http://www.armybarmy.com/jac.html

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Church and church

JAC # 64 (December 2009 - January 2010)
by Commissioner Wesley Harris

OUR founding fathers may not have been keen on the Army being known as a church but they certainly held that they were part of the Church or the people of God and the Body of Christ.

Like them I am not comfortable about calling my corps a church although I know comrades who relish the use of ecclesiastical terms – like a young sergeant major of my acquaintance who wished to be known as the senior elder, presumably with the unlikely thought that it would make his position clearer to people in the highly secular situation in which he lived. As if!

read more: http://www.armybarmy.com/JAC/article5-64.html

read more in this issue of JAC: http://www.armybarmy.com/jac.html

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A Greater _______ is here

JAC # 64 (December 2009 - January 2010)
by Major David Laeger

GREATER THAN “THE SABBATH …” (Matthew 12:8)

Rest, O my soul,
enter Shabbat,
the Kiddush of the soul has come again –
the lesser labor days have reached an end;
flesh-impulses on this sacred day rescind;
the creature seeks what They intend:
He who is greater is here -
the weary soul will mend.

“… the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath.”

read more: http://www.armybarmy.com/JAC/article4-64.html

read more in this issue of JAC: http://www.armybarmy.com/jac.html

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Monday, December 07, 2009

Hebrews 8:13: The Old Covenant, New Covenant, Milkshakes, and Coming of Age

JAC # 64 (December 2009 - January 2010)
by Captain Michael Ramsay

“By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.”

What is this old covenant that is now obsolete?

This old covenant was very important to the Hebrew people. Their whole society was founded upon it. It was more important than but not entirely dissimilar to the Canadian Constitutional Act of 1982 and 1867, the American Declaration of Independence or even the Magna Carta and its very important Habeus Corpus clause. There were a number of activities, ceremonies and cultural traditions related to this old covenant that were cherished by the Hebrews such as circumcision (this actually relates to Abraham’s covenant but often is seen in light of the Mosaic covenant; John 7:22, see Genesis 17:11); ceremonial hand-washing; worshipping at the Temple; priests and Levites who had various jobs relating to the covenant; Sabbath (this has its roots even before Moses, in creation itself; see Genesis 2:2, Exodus 20:11, Hebrews 4); the Ten Commandments; the Law and the prophets (see Exodus 20, 34; Deuteronomy 5, 10); frequent sacrifices and much more.

Between all of these things relating to Moses, the election of the Hebrews for the task of proclaiming salvation to the world (see Genesis 12:3), the Temple and the Torah (even though the Israelites did not live up to the terms of this old covenant): these ceremonies were very significant to the people. They loved them. It was like a number of things are to some of us who have been involved with The Salvation Army for a while: the band, timbrels, Songsters, Soldiers, Officers, uniforms, League of Mercy (Community Care Ministries), thrift stores, emergency disaster work, community and family social work, evangelism, social justice, etc. Even more than that: Moses, election, the Temple, Torah, all their ceremonies and holidays were as important to them as is to us: our national anthem at sporting events, birthday parties, Sunday church services, New Years celebrations, Christmas, Christmas Eve, and Easter. It would be as difficult for the Hebrews to imagine life without the ceremonies of the old covenant as it would be for us to imagine winter without Christmas.

The application of the old covenant covered every aspect of the Hebrews’ lives...

read more: http://www.armybarmy.com/JAC/article3-64.html

read more in this issue of JAC: http://www.armybarmy.com/jac.html

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Four Anchors from the Stern

JAC # 64 (December 2009 - January 2010)
by Harold Hill

This article first appeared in the Practical Theologian, 2007


The Salvation Army as “a Church”: a Dissuasive

You will recall that when the ship in which Paul was sailing had come through a great storm, the sailors sounded a rising sea floor. To save the ship from drifting onto rocks in the darkness, they threw out four anchors from the stern and waited for the morning.[1]

I think the Salvation Army’s drift to “denominationalism” also runs onto a shoaling shore in a fog of confusing definitions and I would like to throw out four anchors from the stern. While the organisation’s mission statement has until recently described it as “an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church”, there is now a tendency for it to be described as “a world wide evangelical Christian church”. Certainly, we are part of the Church, members of the body of Christ. That is altogether different from being a church.

My four anchors are the Salvation Army’s own history, the doctrine and history of the Church, the sociology of the Church and, finally, Scripture.

read more: http://www.armybarmy.com/JAC/article2-64.html

read more in this issue of JAC: http://www.armybarmy.com/jac.html

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Wednesday, December 02, 2009

JAC Editorial Introduction

Major Stephen Court

Welcome to JAC64. We praise God for the expanding influence of Journal of Aggressive Christianity. You will know that there are 63 issues archived for free download on this site. You can search to your heart’s content some great content on issues of Salvationism and warfare. Enjoy.

Major Harold Hill leads of JAC64 with Four Anchors From The Stern, an important article on Salvation Army identity and mission. This article will be studied for years to come in training colleges around the world and will impact our understanding of who we are and what we are about.

Captain Michael Ramsay is back with another article on, you guessed it, covenant. His name is now synonymous with covenant (not that we want to limit him to that subject) and we are guessing that there has to be a book on the way. Be sure that you will hear about it right here at JAC. His take on Hebrews 8 is called Old Covenant, New Covenant, Milkshakes, and Coming of Age.

Major David Laeger contributes A Greater Is Here, a timely reminder and confidence booster in our faith and fighting.

Commissioner Wesley Harris clarifies for us Church and church in his typical clever manner.

Lieutenant Karyn Wishart considers the Ocean of Life that William Booth saw in his vision Who Cares. And Cadet Sean Attard considers that vision’s Mighty Rock.

Cory Harrison is convinced that real Life (is) Outside the Amusement Park, and conveys this hard-hitting message with silk gloves. Get ready for some surprise conviction.

Captain Genevieve Peterson, in The Great Divide, tries to separate Siamese twins and, in the process, discovers some subtle, but important, distinctions in theology and praxis that complicate our salvation warfare.

Major David Laeger provides us with an outline on Triune Aspects of Man in Scripture.

Commissioner Wesley Harris asks if The Salvation Army is a holiness movement. Since he’s been at it for more than 80 years, you might guess that he has a considered opinion on the subject.

Colonel Raymond Finger, in a book excerpt, provides a piece called Holy Leadership. He originally delivered this lecture at the 2009 National Brengle Institute in Geelong, Australia to officer delegates from three territories (AUS, AUE, NZF). Read it with the original audience in mind. And you can easily transfer the lessons even if you are not an officer. The book is BOSTON COMMON, which also features Lieut-Colonel Ian Barr, Major Alan Harley, and Captain Grant Sandercock-Brown (with other single-chapter contributors) to be launched Sanctification Day 2010 (January 9).

Captain Danielle Strickland adds a little something about Mary - a short study for the Christmas season. Women and the economy look especially good in this take. Check it out.

And we wrap it up with a short piece on Stomping on demons. Last issue I contributed Demonised Salvos. Don’t read into it too much of a theme or a future book. But it is all part of our salvation warfighting and this generation’s silence on it in the Army has resulted in unhelpful extremes – at one end those who see demons under every music stand, and at the other those who don’t believe that demons exist. Biblical and Salvationist teaching on the subject should spare us from both extremes and enable us to confront and defeat the enemy.

That's JAC64. It is dedicated to the glory of God and the salvation of the world.

read JAC: http://www.armybarmy.com/jac.html

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

JAC is BACk

December 2009 - January 2010
Issue # 64

Editorial Introduction
Major Stephen Court

Four Anchors from the Stern
Harold Hill

Hebrews 8:13 - The Old Covenant, The New Covenant, Milkshakes, and Coming of Age
Captain Michael Ramsay

A Greater ... is Here
Major David Laeger

Church and church
Commissioner Wesley Harris

Ocean of Life
Karyn Wishart

Who Cares?
Cadet Sean Attard

Life outside the Amusement Park
Cory Harrison

The Great Divide
Captain Genevieve Peterson

Triune Aspects of Man in Scripture
Major David Laeger

A Holiness Movement?
Commissioner Wesley Harris

Holy Leadership
Colonel Raymond Finger

Something about Mary
Captain Danielle Strickland

Start Stomping!
Major Stephen Court