Dear Fellow Salvationists,
This 19th Pastoral Letter comes to each of you with warmest good wishes and greetings in the Lord Jesus Christ.
As I prepare this Letter in an upstairs room in my home in London, England, I look out to see the green and blossoming evidence of late spring. The trees are suddenly abundant in leaf. The sky is lighter and the days grow longer. We discern the hand of God in nature once again and we are filled with gratitude.
Readers in the southern hemisphere are in autumn, waiting for the darker nights and colder temperatures of winter to arrive. The seasons march on with seemingly inexorable pace. We feel our smallness, our creatureliness, and we sense too the overarching mind of the Creator in it all.
Little wonder then that we can burst into song to declare: ‘How great Thou art!’ We offer praise amid the awe. We bring to God our smallness, ready for him to help us rise in Christ to all the fullness of what we can be.
It is God’s plan that each one of us should be all we can be. You matter, you count. Tell yourself out loud: ‘I matter! I count in the eyes of Almighty God!’
Now suddenly my mind is racing off in another direction as I see the word ‘count’ appear in my script. The Bible tells us that even the number of hairs upon our heads has been counted and is known to God in Heaven. This is a powerful reminder of God’s intimate knowledge of us. I find it enormously comforting, but many find the thought menacing. Not everyone wants a Creator God who interacts with us. Instead they seek freedom to wander, licence to please themselves, falsely supposing this to be freedom.
Our God is a counting God. We see this in Jesus who spoke about a flock of sheep numbering 100, but one was lost thus reducing the flock to only 99. The shepherd would not rest until the lost one had been found. That lost one is you. It is also me. We are ‘Sheep Number 100’! How good that we have a God who can count and who searches tirelessly for us when we go missing. This divine attribute is ever before us when we do the sacredly routine work of counting how many folk are in a worship meeting, or how many have used the Mercy Seat, or how many names appear on the soldiers’ roll and other rolls.
If our Creator is by nature a God who counts, then we in turn must expect also to be like him. We can count our blessings, we can count the days he has allotted to us and give thanks for each one of them.
God stands alongside us as we count. He knows how many Army soldiers and junior soldiers there are in the world, and how many there are in your local corps. He knows the number of Army officers in the world and the number of cadets in our training colleges. He loves to see these numbers grow. He knows too that we are at work now in 121 countries of the world. Best of all he knows personally and in detail every individual soldier, junior soldier, officer and cadet. He knows those who are his.
We bask in this knowledge.
Commissioner Helen Clifton joins me in greeting each of you in the precious Name of Jesus.
Please continue to pray for us.
I commend each one of you to the grace of Christ.
Sincerely in him,
Shaw Clifton
General
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Did Paul think Jesus was the long-promised Davidic Messiah?
Paul, Leader of a Jewish Revolution
(N.T. Wright, Bible Review, December 2000. Reproduced by permission of the author.)
Paul’s theology--grounded in Jewish thought and scriptures--propelled him to confront the powers of Rome and the pagan gods that stood behind them.
Did Paul think Jesus was the long-promised Davidic Messiah?
The first Christian writer seems to say so at the very start of Romans, his most famous letter. His gospel, he writes, is about God’s son, “who was descended from David’s seed according to the flesh, and designated son of God in power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead” (Romans 1:3-4). But most scholars, until recently at least, have denied that Paul himself really wanted to say this. He was, they say, just pacifying his Roman hearers by quoting a creedal formula they would have known, to assure them he was on track with their faith.
When I first met this line of thought, I suspected it was an attempt to de-Judaize Paul. I still think that’s correct. By arguing that Paul didn’t believe Jesus was the Davidic Messiah, some would-be Christian scholars were trying to enlist Paul in support of a non-Jewish type of faith. Alas, some Jewish readers have been eager to agree, hoping to blame Paul for changing Jesus’ Jewish message into something different.
But these attempts to distance Paul from Judaism find no real foundation in the opening lines of Romans. The formulaic nature of Romans 1:1-7 gives us no reason to question whether Paul wrote these lines, still less to deny that he believed them. In any case, why would Paul quote a powerful formula that he didn’t believe in, simply to introduce himself to new readers? That makes no sense. To do so would be stupid at best and dishonest at worst.
read more: http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_BR_Jewish_Revolution.htm
(N.T. Wright, Bible Review, December 2000. Reproduced by permission of the author.)
Paul’s theology--grounded in Jewish thought and scriptures--propelled him to confront the powers of Rome and the pagan gods that stood behind them.
Did Paul think Jesus was the long-promised Davidic Messiah?
The first Christian writer seems to say so at the very start of Romans, his most famous letter. His gospel, he writes, is about God’s son, “who was descended from David’s seed according to the flesh, and designated son of God in power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead” (Romans 1:3-4). But most scholars, until recently at least, have denied that Paul himself really wanted to say this. He was, they say, just pacifying his Roman hearers by quoting a creedal formula they would have known, to assure them he was on track with their faith.
When I first met this line of thought, I suspected it was an attempt to de-Judaize Paul. I still think that’s correct. By arguing that Paul didn’t believe Jesus was the Davidic Messiah, some would-be Christian scholars were trying to enlist Paul in support of a non-Jewish type of faith. Alas, some Jewish readers have been eager to agree, hoping to blame Paul for changing Jesus’ Jewish message into something different.
But these attempts to distance Paul from Judaism find no real foundation in the opening lines of Romans. The formulaic nature of Romans 1:1-7 gives us no reason to question whether Paul wrote these lines, still less to deny that he believed them. In any case, why would Paul quote a powerful formula that he didn’t believe in, simply to introduce himself to new readers? That makes no sense. To do so would be stupid at best and dishonest at worst.
read more: http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_BR_Jewish_Revolution.htm
Delilah
Dr Was (Daily Rations with a Smile)
May 30
Proverbs 13-15 and Romans 11
More Bible and Comics: http://drwas.blogspot.com/
Home: http://www.sheepspeak.com/
May 30
Proverbs 13-15 and Romans 11
More Bible and Comics: http://drwas.blogspot.com/Home: http://www.sheepspeak.com/
Friday, May 28, 2010
The Answer is Jesus
There was a Sunday school teacher and her students were becoming really good at answering all the important questions. She would ask them, who died for your sins? (Jesus) Who’s birth do we celebrate on Christmas? (Jesus) Who is the only way to God the Father? (Jesus). One day she showed the kids a picture of a creature with a furry tale, buck teeth and holding a nut and she asked them what that was in the picture. All the kids seemed stumped until finally Johnny raises his hand. “Teacher. I know the answer is Jesus, but it sure sounds like a squirrel to me.”
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Soldier Classes Continue Tonight.
The Doctrines of The Salvation Army
1. We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments
were given by inspiration of God, and that they only constitute
the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice.
2. We believe that there is only one God, who is infinitely perfect,
the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of all things, and who is
the only proper object of religious worship.
3. We believe that there are three persons in the Godhead – the
Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, undivided in essence and
co-equal in power and glory.
4. We believe that in the person of Jesus Christ the Divine and
human natures are united, so that he is truly and properly God
and truly and properly man.
5. We believe that our first parents were created in a state of
innocency, but by their disobedience they lost their purity and
happiness, and that in consequence of their fall all men have
become sinners, totally depraved, and as such are justly
exposed to the wrath of God.
6. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has by his suffering and
death made an atonement for the whole world so that
whosoever will may be saved.
7. We believe that repentance towards God, faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ, and regeneration by the Holy Spirit, are necessary to
salvation.
8. We believe that we are justified by grace through faith in our
Lord Jesus Christ and that he that believeth hath the witness in
himself.
9. We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends
upon continued obedient faith in Christ.
10. We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly
sanctified, and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be
preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
11. We believe in the immortality of the soul; in the resurrection of
the body; in the general judgment at the end of the world; in the
eternal happiness of the righteous; and in the endless
punishment of the wicked.
---
www.sheepspeak.com
1. We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments
were given by inspiration of God, and that they only constitute
the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice.
2. We believe that there is only one God, who is infinitely perfect,
the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of all things, and who is
the only proper object of religious worship.
3. We believe that there are three persons in the Godhead – the
Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, undivided in essence and
co-equal in power and glory.
4. We believe that in the person of Jesus Christ the Divine and
human natures are united, so that he is truly and properly God
and truly and properly man.
5. We believe that our first parents were created in a state of
innocency, but by their disobedience they lost their purity and
happiness, and that in consequence of their fall all men have
become sinners, totally depraved, and as such are justly
exposed to the wrath of God.
6. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has by his suffering and
death made an atonement for the whole world so that
whosoever will may be saved.
7. We believe that repentance towards God, faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ, and regeneration by the Holy Spirit, are necessary to
salvation.
8. We believe that we are justified by grace through faith in our
Lord Jesus Christ and that he that believeth hath the witness in
himself.
9. We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends
upon continued obedient faith in Christ.
10. We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly
sanctified, and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be
preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
11. We believe in the immortality of the soul; in the resurrection of
the body; in the general judgment at the end of the world; in the
eternal happiness of the righteous; and in the endless
punishment of the wicked.
---
www.sheepspeak.com
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
A Quick Guide to the Theories of Atonement
by Caleb F. Heppner
Before launching into an explanation of the covenant’s relationship to atonement, here is a brief summary of the options theologians have so far provided for why Jesus died. Theodore Jennings Jr. of the Chicago Theological Seminary told Time magazine recently that the New Testament “writers are all persuaded that something really drastic, fundamental, and dramatic has happened, and they’re pulling together all kinds of ways to understand that.”1
The book of Hebrews, for example, uses the Jewish sacrificial metaphor depicting Jesus as both priest and sacrifice, spilling, “not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”2 The Gospel of Mark favors Roman legal language for the freeing of slaves: “the Son of Man came…to give his life as a ransom for many.”3 The First Epistle of Peter sees Jesus’ suffering as something to be imitated, “because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”4 And Paul’s letter to the Colossians employs a triumphal image of the risen Christ parading demonic enemies in chains: “He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them triumphing over them in him.”5
The Classical Theory
Theologians have attempted for centuries to weave these concepts into a comprehensive explanation of the atonement. The verses from Colossians were used to define the earliest theory of atonement. This “classic” doctrine, taught for the first 1000 years of Christian history described Christ’s work as a victory over Satan and a liberation of all human kind. Specifically, so the theory goes, Christ was paid as a ransom to the devil to free people’s souls. This was a clever ruse on God’s part, however, for unknown to the Devil, Jesus was actually God in person. Unable to constrain Jesus’ divine soul, the devil was defeated and Christ emerged victorious. This view was taught consistently by nearly all of the Church fathers including Augustine.
Satisfaction or Penal Substitution Theory
In the eleventh century Anselm of Canterbury developed a theory of atonement to explain why Jesus had to die. He said that the debt of sin was so great that humanity could not possibly pay it. Only God, in the person of Christ, could do so by undergoing the agony of the crucifixion. So Jesus became our substitute and satisfied God’s requirements under the law.
Moral Influence or Exemplary Theory
In reaction to Anselm, another early theory of atonement was put forth by the medieval theologian Peter Abelard. This theory, known as the “moral influence” theory, said that God exhibited love at the cross in such a way that contemplation of the cross would move us to repentance and faith. The actual act of salvation occurs in the believer’s subjective response to the cross.
Christus Victor Model
After Anselm and Abelard, the idea of atonement as a ransom to, or defeat of, the devil was more or less abandoned by theologians of subsequent eras. Bishop Gustaf Aulén, a historical theologian from Sweden, whose work was first translated into English in 1931, began a movement to breathe new life into the abandoned classic theory, and his title (Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of Atonement) popularized the name for it. He argued that the “classic” doctrine was not a crude, pictorial expression from a long-gone era, but rather a fully theological explication of Christ’s saving work.6 The Christus Victor perspective is that God, in Christ, intervened in the world to stand up to Satan and the forces of idolatry, materialism, violence and domination. Jesus came to free all creation from the warping power of sin, showing with his life and teaching what it means to be fully human in the will of God.7
read more from The Paul Page: http://www.thepaulpage.com/a-covenantal-view-of-atonement /
--
www.sheepspeak.com
Before launching into an explanation of the covenant’s relationship to atonement, here is a brief summary of the options theologians have so far provided for why Jesus died. Theodore Jennings Jr. of the Chicago Theological Seminary told Time magazine recently that the New Testament “writers are all persuaded that something really drastic, fundamental, and dramatic has happened, and they’re pulling together all kinds of ways to understand that.”1
The book of Hebrews, for example, uses the Jewish sacrificial metaphor depicting Jesus as both priest and sacrifice, spilling, “not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”2 The Gospel of Mark favors Roman legal language for the freeing of slaves: “the Son of Man came…to give his life as a ransom for many.”3 The First Epistle of Peter sees Jesus’ suffering as something to be imitated, “because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”4 And Paul’s letter to the Colossians employs a triumphal image of the risen Christ parading demonic enemies in chains: “He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them triumphing over them in him.”5
The Classical Theory
Theologians have attempted for centuries to weave these concepts into a comprehensive explanation of the atonement. The verses from Colossians were used to define the earliest theory of atonement. This “classic” doctrine, taught for the first 1000 years of Christian history described Christ’s work as a victory over Satan and a liberation of all human kind. Specifically, so the theory goes, Christ was paid as a ransom to the devil to free people’s souls. This was a clever ruse on God’s part, however, for unknown to the Devil, Jesus was actually God in person. Unable to constrain Jesus’ divine soul, the devil was defeated and Christ emerged victorious. This view was taught consistently by nearly all of the Church fathers including Augustine.
Satisfaction or Penal Substitution Theory
In the eleventh century Anselm of Canterbury developed a theory of atonement to explain why Jesus had to die. He said that the debt of sin was so great that humanity could not possibly pay it. Only God, in the person of Christ, could do so by undergoing the agony of the crucifixion. So Jesus became our substitute and satisfied God’s requirements under the law.
Moral Influence or Exemplary Theory
In reaction to Anselm, another early theory of atonement was put forth by the medieval theologian Peter Abelard. This theory, known as the “moral influence” theory, said that God exhibited love at the cross in such a way that contemplation of the cross would move us to repentance and faith. The actual act of salvation occurs in the believer’s subjective response to the cross.
Christus Victor Model
After Anselm and Abelard, the idea of atonement as a ransom to, or defeat of, the devil was more or less abandoned by theologians of subsequent eras. Bishop Gustaf Aulén, a historical theologian from Sweden, whose work was first translated into English in 1931, began a movement to breathe new life into the abandoned classic theory, and his title (Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of Atonement) popularized the name for it. He argued that the “classic” doctrine was not a crude, pictorial expression from a long-gone era, but rather a fully theological explication of Christ’s saving work.6 The Christus Victor perspective is that God, in Christ, intervened in the world to stand up to Satan and the forces of idolatry, materialism, violence and domination. Jesus came to free all creation from the warping power of sin, showing with his life and teaching what it means to be fully human in the will of God.7
read more from The Paul Page: http://www.thepaulpage.com/a-covenantal-view-of-atonement /
--
www.sheepspeak.com
Monday, May 24, 2010
Pentecost was a time to celebrate God giving the Law to Moses on Mt Sinai and in Acts the Holy Spirit arrived with gifts
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing (sound effects) of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be (pillars) tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?
And this is the dramatic scene in the opening of Acts 2. And if this were a Shakespearean play, now, hundreds of years later, there would be - Cole’s Notes! - so that we can all understand the nuances of what is happening before us and there are many nuances…
If we had our Cole’s Notes with us today there would probably be an asterisk beside the word ‘Pentecost’ (vs. 1) because when we think of Pentecost we usually think of this very moment: the advent of the Holy Spirit in Acts – but it is more than that.
Your Cole’s Notes would probably say that Pentecost is also known by various other names: the feast of weeks (Exod. 34:22; Dt 15:10, 16:9-12; Nu 28:26-31), feast of harvest (Exod 23:16) and the day of first fruits (Exod 34:22; Nu 28:26; Lev 23:9-14) and this is neat: Pentecost occurs on the 50th day after the Sabbath Passover (Exod. 19:1)[4] and here (in Acts II) it is about 50 days after Jesus was crucified.
Now this Jewish festival[5], Pentecost, is a time actually to celebrate God giving the Law to Moses on Mt Sinai:[6] Remember the Ten Commandments and how Moses climbs the Mountain (twice; Exod. 19-20, 31, 34; Dt. 4-5, 10) and God writes the 10 commandments on the stone tablets[7] with his very own finger (Exod. 31:18; Dt. 4:13, 10:1) and when Moses returns from the Mountain his face is literally radiant (34:29-35): it’s shining.
While in our text it is now about 50 days after Jesus was crucified.[8] And as Pentecost is about the Ten Commandments, the covenant and an empowering of the Israelites for their new life outside of Egypt[9] and here now with the coming of the Spirit, in Acts II, the disciples are empowered for their new life in the Kingdom of God (Lk 24:49).[10]
This event certainly does link Jesus to Moses as a deliver of his people – and those present in this scene are probably beginning to understand that Jesus is that deliverer.
read more: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/08/acts-2-act-ii-scene-1_25.html
---
www.sheepspeak.com
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?
And this is the dramatic scene in the opening of Acts 2. And if this were a Shakespearean play, now, hundreds of years later, there would be - Cole’s Notes! - so that we can all understand the nuances of what is happening before us and there are many nuances…
If we had our Cole’s Notes with us today there would probably be an asterisk beside the word ‘Pentecost’ (vs. 1) because when we think of Pentecost we usually think of this very moment: the advent of the Holy Spirit in Acts – but it is more than that.
Your Cole’s Notes would probably say that Pentecost is also known by various other names: the feast of weeks (Exod. 34:22; Dt 15:10, 16:9-12; Nu 28:26-31), feast of harvest (Exod 23:16) and the day of first fruits (Exod 34:22; Nu 28:26; Lev 23:9-14) and this is neat: Pentecost occurs on the 50th day after the Sabbath Passover (Exod. 19:1)[4] and here (in Acts II) it is about 50 days after Jesus was crucified.
Now this Jewish festival[5], Pentecost, is a time actually to celebrate God giving the Law to Moses on Mt Sinai:[6] Remember the Ten Commandments and how Moses climbs the Mountain (twice; Exod. 19-20, 31, 34; Dt. 4-5, 10) and God writes the 10 commandments on the stone tablets[7] with his very own finger (Exod. 31:18; Dt. 4:13, 10:1) and when Moses returns from the Mountain his face is literally radiant (34:29-35): it’s shining.
While in our text it is now about 50 days after Jesus was crucified.[8] And as Pentecost is about the Ten Commandments, the covenant and an empowering of the Israelites for their new life outside of Egypt[9] and here now with the coming of the Spirit, in Acts II, the disciples are empowered for their new life in the Kingdom of God (Lk 24:49).[10]
This event certainly does link Jesus to Moses as a deliver of his people – and those present in this scene are probably beginning to understand that Jesus is that deliverer.
read more: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/08/acts-2-act-ii-scene-1_25.html
---
www.sheepspeak.com
“Why did Jesus have to die?”
A Covenantal View of Atonement
by Caleb F. Heppner
Embedded in the text of Romans, Galatians, Hebrews and other New Testament writings is an amazing concept of divine justice that has not found its way into the mainstream Christian theology of atonement. Yet it does more to explain the question: “Why did Jesus have to die?” than any of the traditional atonement theories. Theologians offer several theories or models to explain the importance of Jesus’ death. The most prominent are the theories that his death satisfied man’s debt to God or that it provided a moral inspiration for the believer. But the key to understanding the atonement language in the Bible can be found not in divine “satisfaction” and “moral influence” theories but in the ancient Hebrew concept of covenant familiar to all Jewish believers at the time of Christ. In this view Jesus’ primary role was not as a substitute or example, but as mediator of a new covenant. If there is a unique theology of atonement that supports an Anabaptist perspective of peace and justice, then this is it.
read more: http://www.thepaulpage.com/a-covenantal-view-of-atonement/
by Caleb F. Heppner
Embedded in the text of Romans, Galatians, Hebrews and other New Testament writings is an amazing concept of divine justice that has not found its way into the mainstream Christian theology of atonement. Yet it does more to explain the question: “Why did Jesus have to die?” than any of the traditional atonement theories. Theologians offer several theories or models to explain the importance of Jesus’ death. The most prominent are the theories that his death satisfied man’s debt to God or that it provided a moral inspiration for the believer. But the key to understanding the atonement language in the Bible can be found not in divine “satisfaction” and “moral influence” theories but in the ancient Hebrew concept of covenant familiar to all Jewish believers at the time of Christ. In this view Jesus’ primary role was not as a substitute or example, but as mediator of a new covenant. If there is a unique theology of atonement that supports an Anabaptist perspective of peace and justice, then this is it.
read more: http://www.thepaulpage.com/a-covenantal-view-of-atonement/
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Acts 2: Scene 1
Presented to each the Nipawin and Tisdale Corps 12 August 2007
Presented to the Swift Current Corps 23 May 2010
by Captain Michael Ramsay
Acts is a neat book. Did you know that It is the only history in the NT? Luke and Acts also were written by the same author and these books actually come together as sort of a two volume set that many scholars like to call ‘Luke-Acts.’ Together this set comprises more than 30% of the NT. Luke-Acts is thus important for us to understand.
Acts always reminds me of a play. Maybe it’s the name (Act 1, scene 2). But particularly in the first part, Acts reminds me of a Shakespearian play. Anyone remember studying Shakespeare in school?
All right, here’s another quiz for you. Who can name the play these quotes are from: ‘Friends, Romans, countrymen lend me your ears;’ “to be or not to be, that is the question” – here’s an easy one - “Romeo, Romeo, where art thou Romeo”? ('Mark Anthony'; 'Hamlet'; 'Romeo and Juliet')
Shakespeare wrote very dramatic plays and some of the tragedies are pretty tragic like Hamlet. Remember, his ‘to be or not to be’ speech where, of course, he is either pretending to be insane (or actually goes insane) while trying catch his father’s killer who happens to be his uncle and is also married to his mother. (Sounds like a soap opera actually) And in the end - everybody dies…
Or on a happier note, there is Romeo and Juliet. Young love. But their parents object so they sneak around for a while and then eventually - kill themselves…okay so not a lot of happy endings…but they are very dramatic and neat stories nonetheless.
Shakespeare was a master playwright. And Acts reminds me of Shakespeare’s work. (Only its better) God uses Luke to communicate the VERY dramatic REAL events that happen here and Luke attributes to Peter some amazing speeches that could cause the post-modern reader to recall Mark Anthony, Lady MacBeth, or Hamlet.
And he uses the scenes and speeches that we will look at today and in the weeks to come to tell the readers how God’s Spirit comes at Pentecost and releases the disciples to proclaim the gospel of Jesus’ death resurrection and the forgiveness of sins.
read more: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/08/acts-2-act-ii-scene-1_25.html
Presented to the Swift Current Corps 23 May 2010
by Captain Michael Ramsay
Acts is a neat book. Did you know that It is the only history in the NT? Luke and Acts also were written by the same author and these books actually come together as sort of a two volume set that many scholars like to call ‘Luke-Acts.’ Together this set comprises more than 30% of the NT. Luke-Acts is thus important for us to understand.
Acts always reminds me of a play. Maybe it’s the name (Act 1, scene 2). But particularly in the first part, Acts reminds me of a Shakespearian play. Anyone remember studying Shakespeare in school?
All right, here’s another quiz for you. Who can name the play these quotes are from: ‘Friends, Romans, countrymen lend me your ears;’ “to be or not to be, that is the question” – here’s an easy one - “Romeo, Romeo, where art thou Romeo”? ('Mark Anthony'; 'Hamlet'; 'Romeo and Juliet')
Shakespeare wrote very dramatic plays and some of the tragedies are pretty tragic like Hamlet. Remember, his ‘to be or not to be’ speech where, of course, he is either pretending to be insane (or actually goes insane) while trying catch his father’s killer who happens to be his uncle and is also married to his mother. (Sounds like a soap opera actually) And in the end - everybody dies…
Or on a happier note, there is Romeo and Juliet. Young love. But their parents object so they sneak around for a while and then eventually - kill themselves…okay so not a lot of happy endings…but they are very dramatic and neat stories nonetheless.
Shakespeare was a master playwright. And Acts reminds me of Shakespeare’s work. (Only its better) God uses Luke to communicate the VERY dramatic REAL events that happen here and Luke attributes to Peter some amazing speeches that could cause the post-modern reader to recall Mark Anthony, Lady MacBeth, or Hamlet.
And he uses the scenes and speeches that we will look at today and in the weeks to come to tell the readers how God’s Spirit comes at Pentecost and releases the disciples to proclaim the gospel of Jesus’ death resurrection and the forgiveness of sins.
read more: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/08/acts-2-act-ii-scene-1_25.html
Friday, May 21, 2010
Acts 2: Scene 1
Click HERE to read the sermon: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/08/acts-2-act-ii-scene-1_25.html
Click here to read more sermons off the wall: http://www.sheepspeak.com/sermons.htm
Thursday, May 20, 2010
‘The Ultimate Sinner’: Paul & the Antichrist in Political Context
James R. Harrison, Wesley Institute
1. INTRODUCTION TO THE MODERN SCHOLARLY DEBATE
In 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 Paul portrays the ‘man of lawlessness’ as a self-exalting deity seated in God’s Temple.1 In this article it will be argued that in the context of Second Temple Judaism the figure is an amalgam of figures such as, among others, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, Pompey, and Caligula, each of whom defiled (or attempted to defile) the Jerusalem Temple. This could be Paul’s symbolic way of referring to the (developing) Antichrist tradition, alluding to the teaching of the historical Jesus and to the Old Testament and intertestamental traditions. But, in Paul’s view, it may primarily refer to Caligula who had become the historical precursor to the destruction of the Temple and (perhaps) to the eschaton itself. The time is overdue for such an investigation.
Recent studies on Paul’s epistles have pursued with interest the imperial context of the house churches at Thessalonica. E.A. Judge explored the charge that the early Christians
had somehow violated Caesar’s decrees by preaching the gospel of an alternate messianic King (Acts 17:1ff), arguing that the charge was to be understood against the backdrop of the Caesarian loyalty oaths.2 H. Hendrix and K.P. Donfried unveiled the benefaction and cultic culture of Roman Thessalonica,3 with Donfried emphasising the interrelatedness of imperial and local religious cults in 2 Thessalonians 2.4 J.R. Harrison has argued that in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 Paul confronts the eschatology of the imperial gospel with his apostolic gospel, challenging its apotheosis traditions, and undermining its terminology and providential world-view.5
read more: http://www.thepaulpage.com/The%20Ultimate%20Sinner.pdf
1. INTRODUCTION TO THE MODERN SCHOLARLY DEBATE
In 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 Paul portrays the ‘man of lawlessness’ as a self-exalting deity seated in God’s Temple.1 In this article it will be argued that in the context of Second Temple Judaism the figure is an amalgam of figures such as, among others, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, Pompey, and Caligula, each of whom defiled (or attempted to defile) the Jerusalem Temple. This could be Paul’s symbolic way of referring to the (developing) Antichrist tradition, alluding to the teaching of the historical Jesus and to the Old Testament and intertestamental traditions. But, in Paul’s view, it may primarily refer to Caligula who had become the historical precursor to the destruction of the Temple and (perhaps) to the eschaton itself. The time is overdue for such an investigation.
Recent studies on Paul’s epistles have pursued with interest the imperial context of the house churches at Thessalonica. E.A. Judge explored the charge that the early Christians
had somehow violated Caesar’s decrees by preaching the gospel of an alternate messianic King (Acts 17:1ff), arguing that the charge was to be understood against the backdrop of the Caesarian loyalty oaths.2 H. Hendrix and K.P. Donfried unveiled the benefaction and cultic culture of Roman Thessalonica,3 with Donfried emphasising the interrelatedness of imperial and local religious cults in 2 Thessalonians 2.4 J.R. Harrison has argued that in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 Paul confronts the eschatology of the imperial gospel with his apostolic gospel, challenging its apotheosis traditions, and undermining its terminology and providential world-view.5
read more: http://www.thepaulpage.com/The%20Ultimate%20Sinner.pdf
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Laws and the Law
How can, as Jesus says, not the smallest letter of the Law disappear at the same time as, like Paul says, the Law is already disappearing and soon (in his time) be gone altogether?
Remember this question. First I want to share some interesting laws that I ran across on-line while researching the Law for this sermon; I thought you might enjoy these:[4]
- In Scotland, it is illegal to be drunk and in possession of a cow.
- In Hartland, New Brunswick you are not aloud to make jokes about people with moustaches, unless that person’s first name begins with the letter "A" and last name begins with the letter "N";
- In BC, It is illegal to kill a sasquatch;
- A law requires jailers to bring convicts in debtors’ prison a pint of beer on demand;
- In Alberta, If you are released from prison, it is required that you are given a handgun with bullets and a horse, so you can ride out of town;
- In Ottawa, on Sunday, it’s illegal to eat ice cream on Bank Street;
- In Toronto, on Sunday, it’s illegal to drag a dead horse down Yonge St.;
- In Toronto it is also against the law to swear at your mother in public;
- In Montréal, it is illegal to swear in French;
- In Quebec City it is illegal to swear in any language other than French;
- It is also against the law to impersonate a foreigner;
- And Montreal again, the owner of a hotel apparently can be fined if he cannot provide ‘proper accommodation’ for any guest with a horse.
There is one more that I remember from my younger days – it may just be a myth - but in Victoria it is apparently illegal to accompany a lady after dark if you are not carrying a sword.
One of the interesting things about many of these laws is that none of them were abolished; they are still on the books but many of them are no longer needed or no longer relevant. . .
Read more from Matthew 5:18 Disappearing Act!: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2010/05/matthew-518-disappearing-act.html
Remember this question. First I want to share some interesting laws that I ran across on-line while researching the Law for this sermon; I thought you might enjoy these:[4]
- In Scotland, it is illegal to be drunk and in possession of a cow.
- In Hartland, New Brunswick you are not aloud to make jokes about people with moustaches, unless that person’s first name begins with the letter "A" and last name begins with the letter "N";
- In BC, It is illegal to kill a sasquatch;
- A law requires jailers to bring convicts in debtors’ prison a pint of beer on demand;
- In Alberta, If you are released from prison, it is required that you are given a handgun with bullets and a horse, so you can ride out of town;
- In Ottawa, on Sunday, it’s illegal to eat ice cream on Bank Street;
- In Toronto, on Sunday, it’s illegal to drag a dead horse down Yonge St.;
- In Toronto it is also against the law to swear at your mother in public;
- In Montréal, it is illegal to swear in French;
- In Quebec City it is illegal to swear in any language other than French;
- It is also against the law to impersonate a foreigner;
- And Montreal again, the owner of a hotel apparently can be fined if he cannot provide ‘proper accommodation’ for any guest with a horse.
There is one more that I remember from my younger days – it may just be a myth - but in Victoria it is apparently illegal to accompany a lady after dark if you are not carrying a sword.
One of the interesting things about many of these laws is that none of them were abolished; they are still on the books but many of them are no longer needed or no longer relevant. . .
Read more from Matthew 5:18 Disappearing Act!: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2010/05/matthew-518-disappearing-act.html
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Matthew 5:18: Disappearing Act!
Presented to Swift Current Corps 16 May 2010
By Captain Michael Ramsay
Last week was Mother’s Day when I was preparing for this sermon so I naturally thought that I would talk about rules, about laying down the law so to speak. Rules are very important this time of year – Stanley Cup play-off time. If anyone was ever looking for a way to be unpopular they might want to try refereeing a NHL play-off game. If you make a mistake enforcing the rules, there will be a consequence (for the teams). Likewise – in my house growing up, anyways – if you made a mistake interpreting mom’s rules, there would be a consequence.
It is the same in school. I remember Grade 5. It seems that my Grade 5 teacher enforced the rule of the law of the school quite vigorously. It seemed that he was much more effective at enforcing the law than I was at interpreting it; so as a result, I tended to spend a fair amount of time in the exclusive detention club after school. In those days, the teacher would write your name on the board the first time you did something wrong and if he didn’t take it off by the end of the day (because he figured you earned your time off for good behaviour) you would have to stay after school. Most days I would come into the class and find out that he just left my name up there from the day before – why waste all that effort to erase it when he’d just have to write it up there anyway. I certainly paid the price more than once for transgressing the school’s laws.
But I can take some solace in the teaching of Christ pertaining to the law, right? Jesus says about the Old Testament Law that can be as rigid and constraining as my Grade 5 teacher’s rules: Matthew 5:17 and 18: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them...
read more: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2010/05/matthew-518-disappearing-act.html
or go home: www.sheepspeak.com
By Captain Michael Ramsay
Last week was Mother’s Day when I was preparing for this sermon so I naturally thought that I would talk about rules, about laying down the law so to speak. Rules are very important this time of year – Stanley Cup play-off time. If anyone was ever looking for a way to be unpopular they might want to try refereeing a NHL play-off game. If you make a mistake enforcing the rules, there will be a consequence (for the teams). Likewise – in my house growing up, anyways – if you made a mistake interpreting mom’s rules, there would be a consequence.
It is the same in school. I remember Grade 5. It seems that my Grade 5 teacher enforced the rule of the law of the school quite vigorously. It seemed that he was much more effective at enforcing the law than I was at interpreting it; so as a result, I tended to spend a fair amount of time in the exclusive detention club after school. In those days, the teacher would write your name on the board the first time you did something wrong and if he didn’t take it off by the end of the day (because he figured you earned your time off for good behaviour) you would have to stay after school. Most days I would come into the class and find out that he just left my name up there from the day before – why waste all that effort to erase it when he’d just have to write it up there anyway. I certainly paid the price more than once for transgressing the school’s laws.
But I can take some solace in the teaching of Christ pertaining to the law, right? Jesus says about the Old Testament Law that can be as rigid and constraining as my Grade 5 teacher’s rules: Matthew 5:17 and 18: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them...
read more: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2010/05/matthew-518-disappearing-act.html
or go home: www.sheepspeak.com
Friday, May 14, 2010
Armybarmy Salvo Identiy and Helping Group
Things are hot on the heels of 'the helping group'. Who can help suggesting some things to optimise the impact of The Salvation Army identity? Here are some:
a. Actually try to fulfil our covenants. Did you know that many salvo parents promised, at the dedication of their children, to protect them from wealth? Isn't it true that we shoot the opposite way - that many of us do whatever we can so that our children can 'achieve' and 'succeed' (all in the worldly sense, mind you), and 'make it' (as measured by cost of house and number of cars and length of vacation and so on)? That's just one tiny promise. There are heaps of them in dedication, marriage, junior soldier, senior soldier, local officer, and officer promises.
b. I reckon that if we did 'a' we would be careful where we went to school (particularly 'Christian' schools/colleges/seminaries), from what sources we learned doctrine, news, and mission, where we live, where we socialise (and how), and where we invest our money (in the mission of the 'coca-colas' of this world or in the mission of The Salvation Army (to win the world for Jesus).
c. One of the great warriors of The Salvation Army today calls everyone by their rank. It is not a part of the culture where he lives and fights. In fact, it comes across as goofy to most people (and people of rank are among the most embarrassed by it). But the thing is, he is a warrior in a war. He doesn't have to psych himself into it each morning when he wakes up. He knows it. Because it is real for him it only makes sense that the army in which he fights is real. And that makes ranks real. These are not courtesy titles for him. It's real. As Anthony Castle has made famous, "We are not a metaphor." We might all learn from him.
d. Did you know that the original duties of the Doctrine Council were “to examine and report to the General as to the
correctness and harmony with Salvation Army principles and doctrines, as defined in our Deed Poll of 1878, of the teaching contained in all Salvation Army publications such as song books, company orders, directories, advanced training, and similar lesson courses and text books, and other publications in which doctrinal teaching appears in any form.”
That being the case, if you familiarise yourself with the Handbook of Doctrine (at the expense of most theologically liberal seminaries) you can check SA periodical content, and Corps Cadet lessons, and SA books, and SA CDs, and training college texts and lectures, and Sunday preaching to the correctness and harmony with Salvation Army principles and doctrines. The goal isn't to mobilise 1.5 million doctrine police. But if we all know what we believe and why we believe it it will be easier to both spot the imitations AND to get aligned and positioned so that the Lord Jesus Christ can deploy this Army of Salvation for what Catherine Booth called the 'great final conquest.
e. Apply the O+R. I know, I know. But the O+R has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found wanting and never tried. In this context it is 'wanting' of trendy terminology, of vivacious vocabulary, of persuasive packaging. Oh, and, it's really hard. It's so hard that most people who get over the lack of trendiness don't bother trying it. And yet, it is the only proven method. It works. Guaranteed. In fact, we'll guarantee it right now.
If you faithfully apply the relevant Orders and Regulations in your corps for 12 months we guarantee that it will be larger and more healthy by measures of weekly attendance, conversions, and soldiers made.
If, after 12 months of faithful application of the O+R your corps is not more healthy as measured by attendance, conversions, and soldiers made, then we will fire $1000 to Self Denial in your name.
Let’s unpack the guarantee:
‘If’ – you write to us at revolution @mmccxx.net to let us know that you are commencing your 12 months of O+R;
‘You’ – this is the plural ‘you’ and refers to your corps. You need to have buy-in from the corps council and soldiery;
‘Faithfully’ – this has to be more than a title on your weekly bulletin and a hat tip during the odd announcements. It means reading the O+R, engaging with it, individually and corporately;
‘Apply’ – this means that you do what you read. You may need to adapt some things to your local front;
‘The relevant Orders and Regulations’ – this includes O+Rs for Soldiers, for Officers, for Local Officers, for Corps Officers, and for specific local officers and units (e.g. bands and songsters);
‘… Measures of weekly attendance, conversions, and soldiers made’ – that is, by the end of the 12-month experiment you will have higher attendance than the previous 12 months, more conversions than the previous 12 months, and more soldiers made during these 12 months than in the previous 12 months.
www.armybarmy.com
a. Actually try to fulfil our covenants. Did you know that many salvo parents promised, at the dedication of their children, to protect them from wealth? Isn't it true that we shoot the opposite way - that many of us do whatever we can so that our children can 'achieve' and 'succeed' (all in the worldly sense, mind you), and 'make it' (as measured by cost of house and number of cars and length of vacation and so on)? That's just one tiny promise. There are heaps of them in dedication, marriage, junior soldier, senior soldier, local officer, and officer promises.
b. I reckon that if we did 'a' we would be careful where we went to school (particularly 'Christian' schools/colleges/seminaries), from what sources we learned doctrine, news, and mission, where we live, where we socialise (and how), and where we invest our money (in the mission of the 'coca-colas' of this world or in the mission of The Salvation Army (to win the world for Jesus).
c. One of the great warriors of The Salvation Army today calls everyone by their rank. It is not a part of the culture where he lives and fights. In fact, it comes across as goofy to most people (and people of rank are among the most embarrassed by it). But the thing is, he is a warrior in a war. He doesn't have to psych himself into it each morning when he wakes up. He knows it. Because it is real for him it only makes sense that the army in which he fights is real. And that makes ranks real. These are not courtesy titles for him. It's real. As Anthony Castle has made famous, "We are not a metaphor." We might all learn from him.
d. Did you know that the original duties of the Doctrine Council were “to examine and report to the General as to the
correctness and harmony with Salvation Army principles and doctrines, as defined in our Deed Poll of 1878, of the teaching contained in all Salvation Army publications such as song books, company orders, directories, advanced training, and similar lesson courses and text books, and other publications in which doctrinal teaching appears in any form.”
That being the case, if you familiarise yourself with the Handbook of Doctrine (at the expense of most theologically liberal seminaries) you can check SA periodical content, and Corps Cadet lessons, and SA books, and SA CDs, and training college texts and lectures, and Sunday preaching to the correctness and harmony with Salvation Army principles and doctrines. The goal isn't to mobilise 1.5 million doctrine police. But if we all know what we believe and why we believe it it will be easier to both spot the imitations AND to get aligned and positioned so that the Lord Jesus Christ can deploy this Army of Salvation for what Catherine Booth called the 'great final conquest.
e. Apply the O+R. I know, I know. But the O+R has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found wanting and never tried. In this context it is 'wanting' of trendy terminology, of vivacious vocabulary, of persuasive packaging. Oh, and, it's really hard. It's so hard that most people who get over the lack of trendiness don't bother trying it. And yet, it is the only proven method. It works. Guaranteed. In fact, we'll guarantee it right now.
If you faithfully apply the relevant Orders and Regulations in your corps for 12 months we guarantee that it will be larger and more healthy by measures of weekly attendance, conversions, and soldiers made.
If, after 12 months of faithful application of the O+R your corps is not more healthy as measured by attendance, conversions, and soldiers made, then we will fire $1000 to Self Denial in your name.
Let’s unpack the guarantee:
‘If’ – you write to us at revolution @mmccxx.net to let us know that you are commencing your 12 months of O+R;
‘You’ – this is the plural ‘you’ and refers to your corps. You need to have buy-in from the corps council and soldiery;
‘Faithfully’ – this has to be more than a title on your weekly bulletin and a hat tip during the odd announcements. It means reading the O+R, engaging with it, individually and corporately;
‘Apply’ – this means that you do what you read. You may need to adapt some things to your local front;
‘The relevant Orders and Regulations’ – this includes O+Rs for Soldiers, for Officers, for Local Officers, for Corps Officers, and for specific local officers and units (e.g. bands and songsters);
‘… Measures of weekly attendance, conversions, and soldiers made’ – that is, by the end of the 12-month experiment you will have higher attendance than the previous 12 months, more conversions than the previous 12 months, and more soldiers made during these 12 months than in the previous 12 months.
www.armybarmy.com
More Armybarmy Helping Group
So, we've been following the helping group this week a bit and yesterday we suggested that there are to be ramifications of keeping The Salvation Army as a name. Here are some:
- if we are to be The Salvation Army we have to be soldiers. There are no spectators, fans, 'friends', or adherents of the Russian Army - there are only soldiers. And in that we are like every military army.
- that means there is no 'laity' (an evil word in its popular use). There are only soldiers in the army (and recruits preparing to covenant). Some soldiers are covenanted in vocational Christian leadership. The rest are bi-vocational. These are the only human roles in the army.
- Those covenantally involved in vocational Christian leadership - our leaders - they are called corps or commanding officers, divisional commanders, territorial commanders, and general. They are not formally called evangelist, apostle, prophet, shepherd/teacher even though many fill one or more of these roles. To pick one out of the hat (as some people annoyingly choose the non-word 'pastor', negatively associated with churches across the western world) is to call Wayne Gretzky a penalty killer. Now, Penalty Killer Wayne Gretzky certainly was efficient in killing penalties but to limit his impact on the ice to penalty killing is ridiculous.
- if we are to be The Salvation Army it means that prophetic trumps relevant. We are not the slaves of relevance, we do not worship at it altar. We apply relevance when strategic to advance the salvation war. Otherwise we wear the prophetic yoke give by God (it is easy and its burden is light).
- we don't slavishly imitate effective churches as blessed as they may be. We are different in DNA from them in some ways and to copy them has proven ineffective, mixing purpose and identity.
- we drink from Salvationist waters. That is, our greatest influence is not Hillsong or Willow Creek or Saddleback or HTB or Toronto Airport or 1st Baptist on the hill or Maxwell or Mars Hill or... it is Salvationist. We pray from the song book; we sing songs by the Caseys and Freemans and Mackenroths; we read books by the Gariepys and Harrises and Hills and Rooks, we listen to podcasts by Stricklands and Hawks and Collinses; we read blogs by the Knaggses and Nolands and Brookshaws; we watch video of isalvos and saytube and more; we rejoice in advances celebrated in the War Cry and the Year Book and the IHQ and THQ sites; we attend congresses and commissionings and goforsouls conferences; we study handbooks of doctrine and orders and regulations; we know yearbook stats like some blokes know sporting stats; we eat, drink, and breathe the salvation war through red/yellow/blue-coloured glasses. We will be Salvationists.
- we could go on, and likely will in days to come (stay tuned).
www.armybarmy.com
- if we are to be The Salvation Army we have to be soldiers. There are no spectators, fans, 'friends', or adherents of the Russian Army - there are only soldiers. And in that we are like every military army.
- that means there is no 'laity' (an evil word in its popular use). There are only soldiers in the army (and recruits preparing to covenant). Some soldiers are covenanted in vocational Christian leadership. The rest are bi-vocational. These are the only human roles in the army.
- Those covenantally involved in vocational Christian leadership - our leaders - they are called corps or commanding officers, divisional commanders, territorial commanders, and general. They are not formally called evangelist, apostle, prophet, shepherd/teacher even though many fill one or more of these roles. To pick one out of the hat (as some people annoyingly choose the non-word 'pastor', negatively associated with churches across the western world) is to call Wayne Gretzky a penalty killer. Now, Penalty Killer Wayne Gretzky certainly was efficient in killing penalties but to limit his impact on the ice to penalty killing is ridiculous.
- if we are to be The Salvation Army it means that prophetic trumps relevant. We are not the slaves of relevance, we do not worship at it altar. We apply relevance when strategic to advance the salvation war. Otherwise we wear the prophetic yoke give by God (it is easy and its burden is light).
- we don't slavishly imitate effective churches as blessed as they may be. We are different in DNA from them in some ways and to copy them has proven ineffective, mixing purpose and identity.
- we drink from Salvationist waters. That is, our greatest influence is not Hillsong or Willow Creek or Saddleback or HTB or Toronto Airport or 1st Baptist on the hill or Maxwell or Mars Hill or... it is Salvationist. We pray from the song book; we sing songs by the Caseys and Freemans and Mackenroths; we read books by the Gariepys and Harrises and Hills and Rooks, we listen to podcasts by Stricklands and Hawks and Collinses; we read blogs by the Knaggses and Nolands and Brookshaws; we watch video of isalvos and saytube and more; we rejoice in advances celebrated in the War Cry and the Year Book and the IHQ and THQ sites; we attend congresses and commissionings and goforsouls conferences; we study handbooks of doctrine and orders and regulations; we know yearbook stats like some blokes know sporting stats; we eat, drink, and breathe the salvation war through red/yellow/blue-coloured glasses. We will be Salvationists.
- we could go on, and likely will in days to come (stay tuned).
www.armybarmy.com
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Helping Group from Armybarmy
Let's see. If we follow the suggestion to change the name from The Salvation Army to Helping Group (not 'The' Helping Group, because we don't want to be presumptuous) there are other 'improvements' that might naturally follow:
- we could change the name of The War Cry to something less offensive like Faith and Friends (oops, we did that in one territory already; and, besides, we oughtn't impose 'faith' on anyone!) or The Helping Handout or the Positive Periodical or The Nice Magazine or...
- we could change soldiership to membership. After all, helping groups aren't composed of soldiers, but of members.
- we could change officers to pastors or shepherds or chaplains or ...
- we could change HQ - because we would no longer require leadership, direction, vision, and example from them - to Resource Sources or Facilitation Stations which could help us help.
- we could change the territorial commander to the head helper - wait, that won't work because it has connotations of heretical male headship or that maybe one person was the leader to follow - how about we change it to the happy helper?
- we could change Orders and Regulations to a Handbook of Happy Helps for Helping.
Think of the benefits that would accrue to such a change:
- people would no longer be offended because we're always preaching the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to them;
- we could stop wearing such uncomfortable and expensive uniforms and instead put on uniforms like those of other helpful people like nurses and bus drivers and paramedics and firemen and police officers and postal workers and...
- we could fit in with the rest of the culture because, fundamentally, there is nothing different between other people and us?
- we could raise money by bingos and other gambling enterprises because, after all, we're just here to help...
- actually, that could be our new motto - we're just here to help.
So, how do we make this happen? We could vote? It would be very democratic. We can ask everyone to weigh in. And then we'll change all the signs and become The Helping Group.
Of course, there could be some unexpected negatives...
- a lot of people will be headed to hell because The Salvation Army folded its tent and stopped aggressively fighting for the souls of every lost and bound person.
- then, within a generation, we'd be ymca-ish, having lost our faith that birthed us.
(I reckon not only KEEP The Salvation Army but we also RESTORE its identity and DNA and mission and theology and praxis - see posts this past week on keys - and actually FULFIL God's prophetic purposes for us - are you in?) If we keep it, well, tune in tomorrow for some of the ramifications...
www.armybarmy.com
---
www.sheespeak.com
- we could change the name of The War Cry to something less offensive like Faith and Friends (oops, we did that in one territory already; and, besides, we oughtn't impose 'faith' on anyone!) or The Helping Handout or the Positive Periodical or The Nice Magazine or...
- we could change soldiership to membership. After all, helping groups aren't composed of soldiers, but of members.
- we could change officers to pastors or shepherds or chaplains or ...
- we could change HQ - because we would no longer require leadership, direction, vision, and example from them - to Resource Sources or Facilitation Stations which could help us help.
- we could change the territorial commander to the head helper - wait, that won't work because it has connotations of heretical male headship or that maybe one person was the leader to follow - how about we change it to the happy helper?
- we could change Orders and Regulations to a Handbook of Happy Helps for Helping.
Think of the benefits that would accrue to such a change:
- people would no longer be offended because we're always preaching the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to them;
- we could stop wearing such uncomfortable and expensive uniforms and instead put on uniforms like those of other helpful people like nurses and bus drivers and paramedics and firemen and police officers and postal workers and...
- we could fit in with the rest of the culture because, fundamentally, there is nothing different between other people and us?
- we could raise money by bingos and other gambling enterprises because, after all, we're just here to help...
- actually, that could be our new motto - we're just here to help.
So, how do we make this happen? We could vote? It would be very democratic. We can ask everyone to weigh in. And then we'll change all the signs and become The Helping Group.
Of course, there could be some unexpected negatives...
- a lot of people will be headed to hell because The Salvation Army folded its tent and stopped aggressively fighting for the souls of every lost and bound person.
- then, within a generation, we'd be ymca-ish, having lost our faith that birthed us.
(I reckon not only KEEP The Salvation Army but we also RESTORE its identity and DNA and mission and theology and praxis - see posts this past week on keys - and actually FULFIL God's prophetic purposes for us - are you in?) If we keep it, well, tune in tomorrow for some of the ramifications...
www.armybarmy.com
---
www.sheespeak.com
Monday, May 10, 2010
Reconciliation in Afghanistan
and other Project Ploughshares initiatives
Ernie Regehr was in Afghanistan in April for a Pathways to Peace conference on reconciliation, organized by Peacebuild of Ottawa and the Department of Peace Studies of the University of Kabul. The conference engaged Afghan civil society representatives on ways and means of advancing the reconciliation agenda in Afghanistan. Ernie reported on his presentation at the conference on his blog at http://www.cigionline.org/blogs/2010/4/losing-and-recovering-strategic-consent-afghanistan.
Pictured here is a conference delegate from Paktia Province in eastern Afghanistan participating in the conference discussion.
Project Ploughshares in the News
NATO misses another opportunity
Ernie RegehrEmbassy, May 5, 2010
Take Care of uranium from 'cradle to grave'
Colin RobertsonThe Globe and Mail, April 13, 2010
Project Ploughshares is named in this article.
Harper to push program aimed at securing vulnerable nuclear sites
Campbell Clark The Globe and Mail, April 13, 2010
Ernie Regehr is quoted in this article.
Documents and Publications Now Online
Transparency and Accountability: NPT Reporting 2002-2009
April 2010
U.S. Policy and the Arms Trade Treaty
Rachel Stohl
Ploughshares Working Paper 10-1, April 2010
Practical Steps to Zero Nuclear Weapons: Conference Report, Ottawa, January 25-26, 2010
First published March 2010
Conference Briefing Paper,
Media Release (English) (French)
Disarming Conflict
Ernie Regehr's blog is at http://www.cigionline.org/publications/blogs/disarmingconflict.
His postings since the beginning of the year have focused on various aspects of nuclear disarmament as well as the conflict in Afghanistan.
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Ernie Regehr was in Afghanistan in April for a Pathways to Peace conference on reconciliation, organized by Peacebuild of Ottawa and the Department of Peace Studies of the University of Kabul. The conference engaged Afghan civil society representatives on ways and means of advancing the reconciliation agenda in Afghanistan. Ernie reported on his presentation at the conference on his blog at http://www.cigionline.org/blogs/2010/4/losing-and-recovering-strategic-consent-afghanistan.
Pictured here is a conference delegate from Paktia Province in eastern Afghanistan participating in the conference discussion.
Project Ploughshares in the News
NATO misses another opportunity
Ernie RegehrEmbassy, May 5, 2010
Take Care of uranium from 'cradle to grave'
Colin RobertsonThe Globe and Mail, April 13, 2010
Project Ploughshares is named in this article.
Harper to push program aimed at securing vulnerable nuclear sites
Campbell Clark The Globe and Mail, April 13, 2010
Ernie Regehr is quoted in this article.
Documents and Publications Now Online
Transparency and Accountability: NPT Reporting 2002-2009
April 2010
U.S. Policy and the Arms Trade Treaty
Rachel Stohl
Ploughshares Working Paper 10-1, April 2010
Practical Steps to Zero Nuclear Weapons: Conference Report, Ottawa, January 25-26, 2010
First published March 2010
Conference Briefing Paper,
Media Release (English) (French)
Disarming Conflict
Ernie Regehr's blog is at http://www.cigionline.org/publications/blogs/disarmingconflict.
His postings since the beginning of the year have focused on various aspects of nuclear disarmament as well as the conflict in Afghanistan.
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Friday, May 07, 2010
Romans 5:3,4: Hope and an Angel on the Downtown Eastside.
Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on April 20, 2008
and Swift Current Corps on August 09, 2009
By Captain Michael Ramsay
As many of you here know when our children were just little (not that they’re so big now), we sold our home and our businesses and moved into North America’s poorest postal code - Vancouver’s downtown eastside - as full-time urban missionaries with The Salvation Army.
We have shared with many of you the excitement from our time there as we saw people who were turned from their addictive, destructive ways of life; transformed into new creations by the power of the Holy Spirit. It was exciting to open up our home and our lives to the miracles that indeed the Lord is still performing today and were, oh, so evident in that environment. We met people who have been cured of cancer, cured of AIDS, and completely cured of diabetes. We have seen and experienced the power of God (cf. Romans 1:4, 1:16, 11:23, 15:13, 15:19-20) first hand.
Our time there, as you can well imagine, wasn’t always rosy though. I remember one day – one morning, I was mugged. I knew better but I wasn’t paying attention. It was early in the morning and I was right on Main and Hastings – the most infamous intersection in this most infamous neighbourhood and I was on the pay phone with Susan who was out of town at the time.
Someone came running up behind me, grabbed my briefcase and tore down Main Street. In the briefcase was my laptop and all the information for the summer school programme I was running for the kids in the area; so, like anyone mugged in the depths of skid row, I’m sure, I…well, I chased the mugger.
I followed him down Main Street through Chinatown across busy streets and around the myriad of mazes that are Vancouver’s back alleys. Scaring rats, jumping over sleeping street folk, I pursued my assailant. When I was within reach of him… I fell right in front of a bus and though I escaped from in front of the bus with my life, the mugger escaped with my briefcase, my laptop, and the programme files for the kids.
It was when I was walking back, completely distraught and despondent from this incident, that I experienced the miracle that happened: I encountered an angel, a messenger of God, in the back alleys of Vancouver’s storied downtown eastside. I can still remember vividly; he looked like a ‘dumpster diver;’ he prayed with me and he offered me these words of encouragement from Romans 5:3,4 “...but let us also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Inside I sighed. I knew he was right. God gave me these words to encourage me.
When the Apostle Paul recorded these words circa 55 AD in his letter to the Romans, he himself had already seen much suffering - he has already spent so much time under arrest, so much time in prison and even now he will be ultimately killed for his faith and tradition suggests that he was even beheaded by the Romans themselves.
read more: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/04/romans-534-hope-and-angel-on-downtown.html
or go home: www.sheepspeak.com
and Swift Current Corps on August 09, 2009
By Captain Michael Ramsay
As many of you here know when our children were just little (not that they’re so big now), we sold our home and our businesses and moved into North America’s poorest postal code - Vancouver’s downtown eastside - as full-time urban missionaries with The Salvation Army.
We have shared with many of you the excitement from our time there as we saw people who were turned from their addictive, destructive ways of life; transformed into new creations by the power of the Holy Spirit. It was exciting to open up our home and our lives to the miracles that indeed the Lord is still performing today and were, oh, so evident in that environment. We met people who have been cured of cancer, cured of AIDS, and completely cured of diabetes. We have seen and experienced the power of God (cf. Romans 1:4, 1:16, 11:23, 15:13, 15:19-20) first hand.
Our time there, as you can well imagine, wasn’t always rosy though. I remember one day – one morning, I was mugged. I knew better but I wasn’t paying attention. It was early in the morning and I was right on Main and Hastings – the most infamous intersection in this most infamous neighbourhood and I was on the pay phone with Susan who was out of town at the time.
Someone came running up behind me, grabbed my briefcase and tore down Main Street. In the briefcase was my laptop and all the information for the summer school programme I was running for the kids in the area; so, like anyone mugged in the depths of skid row, I’m sure, I…well, I chased the mugger.
I followed him down Main Street through Chinatown across busy streets and around the myriad of mazes that are Vancouver’s back alleys. Scaring rats, jumping over sleeping street folk, I pursued my assailant. When I was within reach of him… I fell right in front of a bus and though I escaped from in front of the bus with my life, the mugger escaped with my briefcase, my laptop, and the programme files for the kids.
It was when I was walking back, completely distraught and despondent from this incident, that I experienced the miracle that happened: I encountered an angel, a messenger of God, in the back alleys of Vancouver’s storied downtown eastside. I can still remember vividly; he looked like a ‘dumpster diver;’ he prayed with me and he offered me these words of encouragement from Romans 5:3,4 “...but let us also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Inside I sighed. I knew he was right. God gave me these words to encourage me.
When the Apostle Paul recorded these words circa 55 AD in his letter to the Romans, he himself had already seen much suffering - he has already spent so much time under arrest, so much time in prison and even now he will be ultimately killed for his faith and tradition suggests that he was even beheaded by the Romans themselves.
read more: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/04/romans-534-hope-and-angel-on-downtown.html
or go home: www.sheepspeak.com
Thursday, May 06, 2010
This isn’t a contest of two men who serve different gods; this is a contest of two gods, one real and one imagined...
From the Sermon, The Battle Belongs to the Lord
by Captain Michael Ramsay
Now we all know the story of David and Goliath[1] that we read about today (1 Samuel 17), about how a young inexperienced soldier toppled a professional fighter and we know that the battle belongs to the Lord but instead of this – the fact that the battle belongs to the Lord - we often concentrate, when retelling this story, on how a person with just a sling can topple a well-armed soldier.
While it is true that Goliath is painted as a giant of a man, somewhere between 6’9” and 9’9” tall (depending on your translation: MT or LXX, 1 Samuel 17:4)[2] and it is true that he is portrayed as having the most advanced weaponry of his day and age. Remember that the Israelites did not have any iron technology at all (1 Samuel 13:19). Remember that the Philistines forbade them from defending themselves– and remember that after they disarmed them then they attacked them - much like the USA before the second Iraq war or today with some countries and nuclear technology - Here in our text today, Goliath has his century’s version of depleted uranium bombs: Goliath has an iron spearhead that ways about 600 sheckles of iron (17:7). He is a formidable foe, with superior technology but, nonetheless, the battle belongs to the Lord.
Now, that being said, sometimes in playing up Goliath we play down David a little too much – remember that David is already referred to as a warrior in 1 Samuel 16:18[3] and, as a shepherd, he has a lot of experience with his weapon of choice – the sling. And you’ll note also that his weapon of choice is a real weapon that real soldiers really did use in battle. They could fire a rock from a sling at over 100 miles an hour and an expert could be deadly accurate (2 Ki 3:25, 1 Chr 12:2, 2 Chr 26:14)[3.5]: Judges 20:16 says that some men who were left-handed could even sling a stone at a hair at a distance and not miss. This is not a child’s toy; it is a pretty powerful weapon that David chooses to bring into the battle.
David is not just a child; he is a pretty powerful tool that the Lord chooses to bring into battle. So then part of the miracle of the Lord’s victory in this battle here is NOT the fact that David is good with a sling but part of the miracle could be that the Lord apparently conceals this sling from Goliath’s sight until the contest begins (notice that in his taunts of 16:43 there is no mention of the sling – only of the David’s rod)[4] so it appears then that Goliath and his shield-bearer – even with their superior superpower class technology - are ill-prepared to face their opponent and why? … Why? Because the battle belongs to the Lord. Goliath and David’s speeches make that quite clear (17:43-47). This isn’t a contest of two men who serve different gods; this is a contest of two gods (one real and one imagined), who have chosen as their weapons/armour different men. This is a significant difference. The battle belongs to the Lord.
In our own lives, this is true too and I think that we too often forget that indeed the battles we have before us actually do belong to the Lord as well.
read more: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/07/1-samuel-1746-47-battle-belongs-to-lord.html
---
http://www.sheepspeak.com/
by Captain Michael Ramsay
Now we all know the story of David and Goliath[1] that we read about today (1 Samuel 17), about how a young inexperienced soldier toppled a professional fighter and we know that the battle belongs to the Lord but instead of this – the fact that the battle belongs to the Lord - we often concentrate, when retelling this story, on how a person with just a sling can topple a well-armed soldier.
While it is true that Goliath is painted as a giant of a man, somewhere between 6’9” and 9’9” tall (depending on your translation: MT or LXX, 1 Samuel 17:4)[2] and it is true that he is portrayed as having the most advanced weaponry of his day and age. Remember that the Israelites did not have any iron technology at all (1 Samuel 13:19). Remember that the Philistines forbade them from defending themselves– and remember that after they disarmed them then they attacked them - much like the USA before the second Iraq war or today with some countries and nuclear technology - Here in our text today, Goliath has his century’s version of depleted uranium bombs: Goliath has an iron spearhead that ways about 600 sheckles of iron (17:7). He is a formidable foe, with superior technology but, nonetheless, the battle belongs to the Lord.
Now, that being said, sometimes in playing up Goliath we play down David a little too much – remember that David is already referred to as a warrior in 1 Samuel 16:18[3] and, as a shepherd, he has a lot of experience with his weapon of choice – the sling. And you’ll note also that his weapon of choice is a real weapon that real soldiers really did use in battle. They could fire a rock from a sling at over 100 miles an hour and an expert could be deadly accurate (2 Ki 3:25, 1 Chr 12:2, 2 Chr 26:14)[3.5]: Judges 20:16 says that some men who were left-handed could even sling a stone at a hair at a distance and not miss. This is not a child’s toy; it is a pretty powerful weapon that David chooses to bring into the battle.
David is not just a child; he is a pretty powerful tool that the Lord chooses to bring into battle. So then part of the miracle of the Lord’s victory in this battle here is NOT the fact that David is good with a sling but part of the miracle could be that the Lord apparently conceals this sling from Goliath’s sight until the contest begins (notice that in his taunts of 16:43 there is no mention of the sling – only of the David’s rod)[4] so it appears then that Goliath and his shield-bearer – even with their superior superpower class technology - are ill-prepared to face their opponent and why? … Why? Because the battle belongs to the Lord. Goliath and David’s speeches make that quite clear (17:43-47). This isn’t a contest of two men who serve different gods; this is a contest of two gods (one real and one imagined), who have chosen as their weapons/armour different men. This is a significant difference. The battle belongs to the Lord.
In our own lives, this is true too and I think that we too often forget that indeed the battles we have before us actually do belong to the Lord as well.
read more: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/07/1-samuel-1746-47-battle-belongs-to-lord.html
---
http://www.sheepspeak.com/
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
The Battle Belongs to the Lord
Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on July 6, 2008
Presented to Swift Current Corps on May 2, 2010
By Captain Michael Ramsay
I played a bit of sports growing up. I won a few soccer trophies. I tried baseball – my team won a trophy in that once for winning the season. I tried curling – my family won some competitions in curling: I never played on any of their teams. I tried basketball too. Now given my great height and size in general (5’7”), one would think that by rights I really shouldn’t be any good at basketball. But you know what? … I’m not. I tried out however for the grade six team…and I was one of ONLY two kids in my whole class - NOT to make the team (and that was my best ever year at basketball). Not only can I not block shots with my height, I also have difficulties making them. My basketball skills never improved.
One day when I was in university, we went down to the park to play some basketball. Now my friends – they were really good at basketball. Some of them actually made the teams growing up. Now because they were all good sports and had a certain degree of patience, they would actually take the time to explain to me that hip checks, slide checks and nose tweaking were not acceptable defensive manoeuvres. Who knew?
After most of guys had gone home, I was left with a few of the more serious players and they decided to have a bit of a competition to see who was the best shot. So how this would work was that one player would try to pick a tricky shot and if he could make it, all the rest of us would have to make it too – or we would be knocked out of the competition. So they would be doing these reverse lay-ups, shots from the three-point line and the like and due to the grace of God, I was actually able to keep up but then came my turn…
So for my turn - I clarified that I could do any shot that I wanted – I clarified that if I made the shot that they would have to do exactly the same thing – so I would make up the most elaborate shooting routine that I could think of: I would do things like roll on the ground eight times, while singing a children’s song and then throw the ball with my back to the net. Or at one point I think I bounced the ball in off another player after tripping and falling over myself. And – guess what - by the grace of God, the ball actually found the net; so here were all these too serious, too skilled players trying to concentrate on these shots while laughing and not being able to concentrate at all and - at the end of the competition - I was indeed the last man standing. It was weird but in life there are times when we can’t really rely on our own skills and abilities to carry us through. After all is said and done we must confess that the battle is not to the strong and the race is not to the swift (Eccl. 9:11). The battle -as 17:47 says- the battle belongs to the Lord.
read more: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/07/1-samuel-1746-47-battle-belongs-to-lord.html
---
www.sheepspeak.com
Presented to Swift Current Corps on May 2, 2010
By Captain Michael Ramsay
I played a bit of sports growing up. I won a few soccer trophies. I tried baseball – my team won a trophy in that once for winning the season. I tried curling – my family won some competitions in curling: I never played on any of their teams. I tried basketball too. Now given my great height and size in general (5’7”), one would think that by rights I really shouldn’t be any good at basketball. But you know what? … I’m not. I tried out however for the grade six team…and I was one of ONLY two kids in my whole class - NOT to make the team (and that was my best ever year at basketball). Not only can I not block shots with my height, I also have difficulties making them. My basketball skills never improved.
One day when I was in university, we went down to the park to play some basketball. Now my friends – they were really good at basketball. Some of them actually made the teams growing up. Now because they were all good sports and had a certain degree of patience, they would actually take the time to explain to me that hip checks, slide checks and nose tweaking were not acceptable defensive manoeuvres. Who knew?
After most of guys had gone home, I was left with a few of the more serious players and they decided to have a bit of a competition to see who was the best shot. So how this would work was that one player would try to pick a tricky shot and if he could make it, all the rest of us would have to make it too – or we would be knocked out of the competition. So they would be doing these reverse lay-ups, shots from the three-point line and the like and due to the grace of God, I was actually able to keep up but then came my turn…
So for my turn - I clarified that I could do any shot that I wanted – I clarified that if I made the shot that they would have to do exactly the same thing – so I would make up the most elaborate shooting routine that I could think of: I would do things like roll on the ground eight times, while singing a children’s song and then throw the ball with my back to the net. Or at one point I think I bounced the ball in off another player after tripping and falling over myself. And – guess what - by the grace of God, the ball actually found the net; so here were all these too serious, too skilled players trying to concentrate on these shots while laughing and not being able to concentrate at all and - at the end of the competition - I was indeed the last man standing. It was weird but in life there are times when we can’t really rely on our own skills and abilities to carry us through. After all is said and done we must confess that the battle is not to the strong and the race is not to the swift (Eccl. 9:11). The battle -as 17:47 says- the battle belongs to the Lord.
read more: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/07/1-samuel-1746-47-battle-belongs-to-lord.html
---
www.sheepspeak.com
Monday, May 03, 2010
Three Million Canadians Have Feared or Experienced Homelessness
Salvation Army study shows increase in demand for social services
Toronto, ON, May 3, 2010 – A new report shows that approximately three million people – one in nine Canadian adults – have either worried about or personally experienced homelessness. This report, released by The Salvation Army indicates that demand for social services are on the rise. At the same time, the public perceives homelessness and poverty as two of the nation’s most critical social problems. The report is being released today to kickoff The Salvation Army’s National Red Shield Campaign, a month-long effort that seeks to educate the public about the cycle of poverty in Canada and raise funds to help combat the problem.
“Our study found that the need to assist the poor and homeless is more important now than ever before,” said Commissioner William W. Francis, Territorial Commander of The Salvation Army in Canada and Bermuda “The public understands that there are numerous factors which lead to life on the streets, and the public believes that more can be done for the poor and homeless.”
The new report, “Poverty shouldn’t be a life sentence: a report on the perceptions of homelessness and poverty in Canada,” surveyed a representative sample of Canadians to understand where perceptions exist and realities emerge on homelessness and poverty. The results indicate that the public has a heightened awareness of poverty and homelessness, but still, these two problems continue to grow. In 2009, The Salvation Army helped more than one million people by providing food, clothing and other practical assistance. Demand for these services increased by more than 25 percent in one year. Locally, The Salvation Army has seen increases in shelter bed occupancy and stay rates.
“The increase shows us just how much the economic recession has exacerbated long-existing problems in Canada,” said Commissioner Francis. “The Salvation Army is leading the fight against homelessness and poverty as Canada’s largest nongovernmental provider of social services.”
The public believes that homelessness and poverty are two of the most pressing issues in Canada today. Nearly two-thirds of all respondents ranked poverty, homelessness and related issues as the most pressing social problems in Canada.
The release of the homelessness and poverty report coincides with The Salvation Army’s National Red Shield Campaign, which runs through May 31st. For more than 90 years, the campaign has raised funds to support Salvation Army programs – aimed especially at the more than three million people currently living in poverty in Canada today. To spread awareness, the Army will run several public service announcements, spotlighting the issue of poverty. The advertising campaign’s message, that “Poverty shouldn’t be a life sentence,” will run in-print, online and on-air throughout May.
Money raised during the campaign directly supports those living in poverty through Salvation Army social services like emergency shelter care, substance abuse counselling and employment training. Each year, The Salvation Army serves more than 1.5 million people in more than 400 communities across the country.
This year’s goal is to raise $2.75 million by May 31st. Financial contributions can be made by visiting http://www.salvationarmy.ca/, by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY (725-2769), by mailing donations to The Salvation Army, 2 Overlea Blvd., Toronto, ON M4H1P4 or by dropping off financial donations at the closest Salvation Army facility in your area.
Donors can also support the May Red Shield Campaign by texting HOME to 45678 from most wireless phones in Canada. A $5 donation will be added to your monthly wireless phone bill.
To view the “Poverty shouldn’t be a life sentence” report and to find out how you perceive the problems of homelessness and poverty in Canada, please visit http://www.salvationarmy.ca/
About The Red Shield Campaign:
The National Red Shield Campaign is an annual fundraising and public awareness campaign held annually throughout the month of May. The Salvation Army utilizes online, phone, direct mail and door-to-door appeals to solicit donations from generous Canadians. Giving to The Salvation Army offers an opportunity to invest in the future of marginalized and overlooked people in your community. 86 cents of every dollar raised by The Salvation Army goes directly to support those in need.
About The Salvation Army:
The Salvation Army is an international Christian organization that began its work in Canada in 1882 and has grown to become the largest non-governmental direct provider of social services in the country. The Salvation Army gives hope and support to vulnerable people today and everyday in 400 communities across Canada and 120 countries around the world. The Salvation Army offers practical assistance for children and families, often tending to the basic necessities of life, providing shelter for homeless people and rehabilitation for people who have lost control of their lives to an addiction. When you give to The Salvation Army, you are investing in the future of marginalized and overlooked people in your community.
News releases, articles and updated information can be found at http://www.salvationarmy.ca/
Toronto, ON, May 3, 2010 – A new report shows that approximately three million people – one in nine Canadian adults – have either worried about or personally experienced homelessness. This report, released by The Salvation Army indicates that demand for social services are on the rise. At the same time, the public perceives homelessness and poverty as two of the nation’s most critical social problems. The report is being released today to kickoff The Salvation Army’s National Red Shield Campaign, a month-long effort that seeks to educate the public about the cycle of poverty in Canada and raise funds to help combat the problem.
“Our study found that the need to assist the poor and homeless is more important now than ever before,” said Commissioner William W. Francis, Territorial Commander of The Salvation Army in Canada and Bermuda “The public understands that there are numerous factors which lead to life on the streets, and the public believes that more can be done for the poor and homeless.”
The new report, “Poverty shouldn’t be a life sentence: a report on the perceptions of homelessness and poverty in Canada,” surveyed a representative sample of Canadians to understand where perceptions exist and realities emerge on homelessness and poverty. The results indicate that the public has a heightened awareness of poverty and homelessness, but still, these two problems continue to grow. In 2009, The Salvation Army helped more than one million people by providing food, clothing and other practical assistance. Demand for these services increased by more than 25 percent in one year. Locally, The Salvation Army has seen increases in shelter bed occupancy and stay rates.
“The increase shows us just how much the economic recession has exacerbated long-existing problems in Canada,” said Commissioner Francis. “The Salvation Army is leading the fight against homelessness and poverty as Canada’s largest nongovernmental provider of social services.”
The public believes that homelessness and poverty are two of the most pressing issues in Canada today. Nearly two-thirds of all respondents ranked poverty, homelessness and related issues as the most pressing social problems in Canada.
The release of the homelessness and poverty report coincides with The Salvation Army’s National Red Shield Campaign, which runs through May 31st. For more than 90 years, the campaign has raised funds to support Salvation Army programs – aimed especially at the more than three million people currently living in poverty in Canada today. To spread awareness, the Army will run several public service announcements, spotlighting the issue of poverty. The advertising campaign’s message, that “Poverty shouldn’t be a life sentence,” will run in-print, online and on-air throughout May.
Money raised during the campaign directly supports those living in poverty through Salvation Army social services like emergency shelter care, substance abuse counselling and employment training. Each year, The Salvation Army serves more than 1.5 million people in more than 400 communities across the country.
This year’s goal is to raise $2.75 million by May 31st. Financial contributions can be made by visiting http://www.salvationarmy.ca/, by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY (725-2769), by mailing donations to The Salvation Army, 2 Overlea Blvd., Toronto, ON M4H1P4 or by dropping off financial donations at the closest Salvation Army facility in your area.
Donors can also support the May Red Shield Campaign by texting HOME to 45678 from most wireless phones in Canada. A $5 donation will be added to your monthly wireless phone bill.
To view the “Poverty shouldn’t be a life sentence” report and to find out how you perceive the problems of homelessness and poverty in Canada, please visit http://www.salvationarmy.ca/
About The Red Shield Campaign:
The National Red Shield Campaign is an annual fundraising and public awareness campaign held annually throughout the month of May. The Salvation Army utilizes online, phone, direct mail and door-to-door appeals to solicit donations from generous Canadians. Giving to The Salvation Army offers an opportunity to invest in the future of marginalized and overlooked people in your community. 86 cents of every dollar raised by The Salvation Army goes directly to support those in need.
About The Salvation Army:
The Salvation Army is an international Christian organization that began its work in Canada in 1882 and has grown to become the largest non-governmental direct provider of social services in the country. The Salvation Army gives hope and support to vulnerable people today and everyday in 400 communities across Canada and 120 countries around the world. The Salvation Army offers practical assistance for children and families, often tending to the basic necessities of life, providing shelter for homeless people and rehabilitation for people who have lost control of their lives to an addiction. When you give to The Salvation Army, you are investing in the future of marginalized and overlooked people in your community.
News releases, articles and updated information can be found at http://www.salvationarmy.ca/
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