the times they are a changin'
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
(By Andres Villatoro)
“Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.”
The year was 1964 when Bob Dylan coined these most remembered words. I recently heard this song in movie where they showed how drastically American culture changed in the last 50 years and has been in my head since. It is a song of protest against the old way of doing things, against tradition, against older generations. This song is actually often viewed as a reflection of the generation gap and of the political divide marking American culture in the 1960s and like everyone knows the 60s was time of great change. I mean a man landed on the moon, the civil rights movement was reaching its climax, and the hippies of the boomer generation were showing just how they wanted to be different.
But then I began thinking about Christianity, about church in general and even about the Salvation Army. Have we caught up with the times? Did we change along with the rest of America or did we stay in the past in thought and in style? Some would argue that we have and very much so. It is a great thing to know that God and Christ is above culture and above time. Culture and time does not limit him and He chooses to glorify himself in all cultures and in all times. The Kingdom of God, after all, is everywhere. Look around you and see.
The Church as a whole, however, has a hard time believing this and always has. We tend to glorify the past and restrict the Lord to our own ways and to our own style when clearly the Lord does not work like that. Even Jesus Christ himself when he came to be with humankind was doing things so different so as to reach the most needed that the Pharisees wanted him dead. They would not have their religion disturbed or changed.
What Bob Dylan was trying to say through this song still rings true 45 years later for us. “Don’t criticize what you can’t understand.” Don’t exalt your way of doing things over the extension of God’s Kingdom. Be fresh. Be relevant. May God give first give us the power of love but also the wisdom to be relevant that though we should never change the powerful message of the Gospel, we can change the way we present it. Let us live in the present; let us not make the mistake of other generations of just admiring the bravery and courage of the forefathers instead of imitating their aggressive faith.
May that be true for us!
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Beyond Charity
Thursday, March 19, 2009
(By John Kim) - I recently read a book entitled “Beyond Charity” by John Perkins, which challenged me deeply – one of those books that make you wonder whether you’re doing this whole Christianity thing correctly or not. Not just at a personal level, but being from The Salvation Army, I had to ask the same question of my church. As historically rooted in the social gospel as The Salvation Army is, and even today with its wide range of social service ministries, is it possible that we are failing to go beyond charity as a whole? An uncomfortable question, to be sure, but eventually I was able to walk away from this book not discouraged, but rather, challenged to action.
The basic point that Perkins drove in for me, going right along with the title of this book, was the utter inadequacy of the charity mentality when it comes to ministering to the urban poor of America: “America’s best intentions, most sincere thoughts, noblest efforts – all of these are useless to the urban poor if they do not connect with our personally defined, deepest felt needs…Overcoming an attitude of charity is a difficult task because it requires givers to demand more of themselves than good will” (p.23). So it seems that in the case of inner city ministry, good intentions and sincere motivations are far from adequate to get the job done. Coming from a relatively wealthy church in a relatively wealthy part of the city, this forced me to honestly evaluate our serious lack of involvement with the poor of our city. Are we doing enough? Hardly. Even the little that we do do could easily be out of sense of guilt, as Perkins painfully points out: “Sometimes our giving is motivated by guilt. When this is the case, we are giving for selfish reasons – to make ourselves feel okay…undisciplined giving can be just as destructive as the poverty it was meant to alleviate” (pp.23-24). Ouch! How many times have I been motivated by guilt, and thus actually acted selfishly, in my giving to the poor? Is it possible that my supposed generosity could’ve actually had a destructive effect on those to whom I gave? Scary thought.
The alternative to the quick-fix mentality, then, begins with a clear identification with the felt needs of the urban poor: “With the transformation of ‘you, them, and theirs’ to ‘we, us, and ours’ we will understand most clearly the real problems facing the poor; then we may begin to look for real solutions” (p.31). One of Perkins’ most challenging points, both through his words and through the example of his life, is the challenge to relocate into the inner city where transformation must take place. It is a model consistent with the Incarnation of Christ when He gave up the luxuries of heaven to come and dwell among us. This is how a community’s needs become our own needs – basic needs for things such as security, education, health care, etc. As clear and courageous as this call for physical relocation was, I was glad that there was also a call for ‘encouragers, investors and volunteers’ for inner city ministry also. For surely there are real spiritual needs in suburban and rural America also, and so the presence of Christians there is no less important in light of the Great Commission. The bottom line, I believe, has to be the specific calling of God on each of our lives.
According to Perkins, the first mark of an authentic church is this: “The authentic church absorbs pain” (p.45). I am burdened to know what this must mean for my local church, and for The Salvation Army as a whole in the 21st century. I pray that we will learn to go beyond charity in all of our outreach and social services, that we will clearly identify with the felt needs of the poor all around us, and that we would courageously follow God’s specific calling on our lives, no matter where that may take us.
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Read Me
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
(By Nate Irvine) - Like it or not, if you call yourself a Christian, most people that don’t go to church or have a relationship with God are going to look at your life for their answers. Anything you do or say may be a response to something they’ve been dealing with. Or, any action they witness may be taken as a license or a granted permission for something they’ve been trying to discern secretly. In other words, when they see you, they think, or hope, they’ll see Jesus.
Earlier today, I was researching what seems to be a great organization called the Marin Foundation. It’s a foundation that works with the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgender community in Chicago (located minutes from the Salvation Army’s College for Officer’s Training). I was reading the founder’s blog (his name is Andrew Marin), scrolling through some past posts, when I came across a quote he posted from a professor he studied under:
“The world doesn’t read the Bible, they read Christians.”
I’ve been very interested in this comment ever since I’ve let it digest, mostly because I know that it’s so true. I assume that anytime anyone finds out that I’m a Christian, they automatically assign me to a moral standard, expecting me to uphold it. No of course, they will probably never tell me that they watch what I do, or give extra thought to what I say, but I like to think it still happens.
And even if it doesn’t, it won’t change the fact that I am supposed to be a symbol of Jesus, that I’m supposed to embody the teachings of Christ, and that I am supposed stand for that which God stands for.
Being inspired by the Holy Spirit, the author of the book of James wrote about this quite perfectly:
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
If it’s true that most non-Christ followers don’t read the Bible, then I need to make sure that I try to look a lot more like Jesus and a lot less like the world everyday.
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Standout Moments
Monday, March 16, 2009
(By Sarah Kincaid) - There have been a few standout moments in my life when I’ve felt as if God has pushed me down by my shoulders, grabbed my chin, pointed it in another direction and said, “look.” Driving down Chicago Avenue on the west side of Chicago through what’s known to be a dangerous neighborhood happened to be one of them.
People of all ages loitered on corners, sat in cars, shuffled down sidewalks, seemingly waiting for something to happen. One group huddled up caught my attention. I instantly assumed the worst. “I don’t even want to know what is going on there,” I thought cynically. But as I got closer, I saw they were praying. I could have driven straight into a parked car. I was so ashamed. I prayed out loud, “Father, forgive me for assuming You’re not here.” God had yanked my chin, and it hurt.
I saw similar instances of my Father’s under-the-radar Kingdom work when I visited the Kibera slums while in Kenya for a conference on child sponsorship. Amidst this overcrowded community, where sorrow and despair are as visible as the makeshift septic system, God’s Kingdom was discernible. The results of people serving God also were visible. People were taking care of each other. Grandmas and neighbors were looking after children orphaned by AIDS. Widows and elderly were looked after, too. The children were joyful and happy and they were being fed and taught God’s Word at the Salvation Army nursery situated in the middle of the slums.
God is at work. He is worthy to be praised. We just need to open our eyes and pay attention to those standout moments.
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Book Review: Becoming The Answer To Our Prayers
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
(By Stephen Rivero)
“Prayer is not so much about convincing God to do what we want God to do as it is about convincing ourselves to do what God wants us to do.” (Becoming The Answer To Our Prayers; Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove)
In the book “Becoming The Answer To Our Prayers,” Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove explain how prayer plays a big part of God’s Kingdom, especially when it’s followed by action. For example, as the body of Christ, we are also a family, but really we are a “dysfunctional family," Shane states, “in which some children are starving while others have food stashed in their closets. Some of us are living on the street while others have empty rooms in our homes.” What kind of honor are we bringing to our family name by living like this? As a family we are supposed to help others that are in need, and the thing is that we don’t have to get in airplanes and go to other countries ‘cause the answer to our prayers to do God’s will could be around the corner from our own homes.
We are always too busy talking and not listening and obeying. We call ourselves Christians, but we don’t act like Christ. We say we love others but we don’t show that we truly do. We are called to be a community that is the answer to our request, and that would happened if we truly love our Father and we just tried to spend some time with Him.
One of Shane and Jonathan’s prayers goes like this: “Make your name holy, Father, by bringing your Kingdom here on earth.” This thought continues when they say, “Christian community is the gift of a life that is worthy of God’s name. Forgetting ourselves, we become the sort of people who hallow God’s name by how we live with one another.” We have to start acting like we are God’s children and use the authority that He has given us so we can do great things through Him and for His glory alone. Jesus always says, “The Kingdom of God is coming and has come”. If we are ready to believe it, what will be in the end is already available to us now in the gift of the Holy Spirit. We have to stop hiding ourselves in our churches and in our ungodly desires and start praying, listening, and obeying so the world would see how great our God is. We are the church and it’s time for us to pray like we are God’s so He could use us change the world around us.
Shane and Jonathan suggest that “we need to pray like everything depends on God and live like God has no other plan but the church. We are the ones God is waiting on. When we throw our hands up to our God and inquire, 'why do you allow this injustice!?', we need to be ready for God to toss the same question back to us.” In order to do all of this, we have to give our lives to seek the Kingdom, so we can go and be actual, legit, little Jesus’ (Christians) that blaze through this dark world and set it on fire with love from the Holy Spirit.
Because that is the Kingdom of God.
Amen!
For more information on the topic, read the book co-authored by Shane Claiborn and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove called "Becoming The Answer To Our Prayers".
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A New Way To Pray
Monday, March 02, 2009
(By Captain Thom Moffitt) - I opened my mail the other day to find a poster and information on the upcoming Commissioning weekend. It’s being described as a “Prayer Summit: An interactive weekend for Salvationists focused on prayer, praise & purpose”. Even prior to seeing this, I’ve been spending a good amount of time lately assessing my own personal concepts of prayer. As a Salvationist, is my prayer different than that of say, a Methodist? Do I pray for the Christianizing of the world or claim power in the name of Jesus different than say, the Baptist? As with most things Army, I realize that how I have been taught to pray was learned generationally.
Salvationists in America, generation to generation by example of what we have seen and been taught, associate prayer with calm emotions and deep distress. We pray our hopes, dreams, fears and anxieties, our agendas, and our needs. We are more accustomed to peaceful prayers that ask for more love, joy or hope; or passive prayers that ask God to remove the stress of our lives so we don’t have to deal with them or be deeply emotional about them.
Ephesians 6:18 (NLT) reads, “Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere.”
I have come to realize that my previous understanding of prayer made my prayers weak! Praying “at all times and on every occasion” was more like “before meals, before I fall asleep, and the four minutes we allocate to it on a worship plot between the singing of our second congregational song and the taking of the offering on a Sunday morning”. Where’s the power in that?
Now I pray violently! Violent prayer aggressively and fiercely challenges the enemy’s agenda. It actually does violence to the enemy’s work. It is highly emotional and deeply exhaustive, and reflects a militant “to-the-death” clash of the kingdoms. Now my prayers instill fear in the heart of the enemy and real strength to me when I feel my weakest.
What violent prayer does not do is make people out to be our targets. Let me be clear; the exercise of violent prayer does not expect any type of physical or visible violence to come as a result of these prayers.
Most of us associate anger with sin; even when it’s perfectly in line with the holy anger Jesus expressed in Scripture. Hostile emotions against the enemy are often suppressed, and we miss their motivating potential for our prayers. These “negative” emotions are often appropriate fuel for our conversations with God. So rather, in order to make best use of that fuel, we must first move beyond some of our assumptions.
Generationally we have fostered many false assumptions about prayer. We misunderstand the investment of time most prayers must take. We underestimate the energy and conflict involved in most of them. We confuse the passive and active elements in our role and God’s.
As we consider the amount of time it takes to pray, we wrongly think in terms of simple transactions. We text, we chat, we communicate at the speed of light; so we tend to do that with our prayers. We underestimate the amount of energy and conflict necessary to prayer. The enemy tries to make our life a grueling obstacle course; so too with our prayer. We believe God wants us to relax and enjoy our lives so we’ve taken the activity – the physical movement and action - out of our praying. We have forgotten the struggle we are made for; the battle God created us to fight.
As Salvation soldiers we must be persistent in our contending for the Kingdom because one brief moment or one territorial inch can have a lasting impact on the course of a kingdom. The stakes are high. There can be no negotiation. Right and might are on the same side, and our battle cry is the Lord’s Prayer. Now is the time to engage; to be marking our territory, as the Army of Salvation.
We are The Salvation Army! A Revolutionary Movement of covenanted Warriors exercising Holy Passion toward Winning the world for Jesus. Let’s pray like it.
This article excerpted with additional commentary from my instructors’ notes on violent prayer for the War College Chicago Term 1 course Basic Warfare. For more information check out: Tiegreen, Chris, Violent Prayer: Engaging Your Emotions Against Evil; Multnomah Publishers, 2006
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