"promoted to Glory" clip-art needed!

Can anyone send me (please!) the cross-and-crown "promoted to Glory" clip-art, as soon as possible?

Thanks!
Evelyn
evelynclark@juno.com
evelyn_clark@fin.salvationarmy.org

pray for Tajikistan!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22893606/

http://www.neweurasia.net/2008/01/23/tajikistan-the-ice-age-has-come/

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/01/bb04db9b-91f4-48e2-b7b8-4679dcc3d2e0.html

my step-father, Dick Banks, is having hip-replacement surgery

Please pray for my step-father, Dick Banks, who is having hip-replacement surgery today.

Thank you!

Evelyn

music needed!

"They Need Christ" was published in The Musical Salvationist Oct 1988, Vol 102-P4

Would it be possible for anyone to send us this music, PLEASE?

Thanks!
Evelyn

"I've never been convinced"

I love it when someone else says something that I've been wanting to say for years!

"I've never been convinced that telling our kids 'that they really ought to be friends with Jesus because if they don't they'll go to hell' is the way to introduce them to the beauty of kingdom living. I've never been that convinced that telling our kids 'that if they live by the rules they will have an eternity with God and that they should remember always to say sorry to God just in case they get run over' - is the way to introduce them to what it is to be truly at peace with themselves and with God."

http://www.urbanarmy.blogspot.com/

Evelyn

Podcast!

http://www.sasvc.org/

My friends and sessionmates, Captains Jud & Lori Laidlaw!

mis oma amet on?

2TI 2:1 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. 3 Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs--he wants to please his commanding officer.

Yesterday in NELK (women's ministries), the theme was "Whistle While You Work" and we went around the table talking about our jobs. Sometimes I'm "in the groove" for speaking Estonian, and sometimes I'm not, and I felt like yesterday I wasn't! There were also guests visiting (not regular corps people), and that always makes me more nervous.

Anyway, how could I say what I do as an officer? Even in English, it would be hard to do in a minute or so.

So I started wondering what Scripture would consider my job to be:
1. Be strong in grace
2. Speak in the presence of many witnesses
3. Teach others
4. Endure hardship
5. Please the C.O. (GOD!)

I wonder how God would score me in a Performance Review?

Evelyn

testimony

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2

"I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing 'the least of these' over the powerful.... I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals."

Ditto!

MT 25:40 "The King will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
MT 25:41 "Then he will say to those on his left, `Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
MT 25:44 "They also will answer, `Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
MT 25:45 "He will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

LK 9:1 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them: "Take nothing for the journey--no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5 If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town, as a testimony against them." 6 So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.

I have not seen this film, but it's a very important issue!

Täna õhtul
KANAL2
kell 20:30

Mängufilm: Inimkaubitsejad 1/2 (Human Trafficking, USA/ Kanada 2005)
Edetabelisse lisatud 3 korral.Põnevusdraama eriüksuse agendist Kate Morozovist (Mira Sorvino), kes püüab paljastada ülemaailmse haardega seksiäri võrgustikku, mille taga seisab julm inimkaubitseja Karpovitch (Robert Carlyle). Lisaks välismaale meelitatud Ida-Euroopa tüdrukutele, kes müüakse bordellidesse lõbunaisteks ja muudetakse seksiorjadeks, ei põlga bandiidid ära isegi laste röövimist, et need siis lastepornoga tegelevatele pervertidele vahendada... Kaheosaline põnevusdraama kandideeris kolmele Emmy auhinnale ja kahele Kuldgloobusele. Teine osa eetris järgmisel neljapäeval. R: Christian Duguay Osades:
› IMDB: Human Trafficking
› Filmiveeb.ee
› Huvitav film? Lisa edetabelisse!

Sassilt

SELLEL REEDEL, 25.01.2008 KELL 19.00 TOIMUB NOORTEKAS TALLINNA METODISTI KIRIKU NOORTERUUMIS ADRESSIL NARVA MNT 51. TEEMAKS "MIDA JUMAL TAHAB TEHA SINU ELUS".

"the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion"

"We are talking of peace. These are things that break peace, but I feel the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a direct war, a direct killing - direct murder by the mother herself. And we read in the Scripture, for God says very clearly: Even if a mother could forget her child - I will not forget you - I have carved you in the palm of my hand. We are carved in the palm of His hand, so close to Him that unborn child has been carved in the hand of God. And that is what strikes me most, the beginning of that sentence, that even if a mother could forget something impossible - but even if she could forget - I will not forget you. And today the greatest means - the greatest destroyer of peace is abortion. And we who are standing here - our parents wanted us. We would not be here if our parents would do that to us. Our children, we want them, we love them, but what of the millions. Many people are very, very concerned with the children in India, with the children in Africa where quite a number die, maybe of malnutrition, of hunger and so on, but millions are dying deliberately by the will of the mother. And this is what is the greatest destroyer of peace today. Because if a mother can kill her own child - what is left for me to kill you and you kill me - there is nothing between. And this I appeal in India, I appeal everywhere: Let us bring the child back, and this year being the child's year: What have we done for the child? At the beginning of the year I told, I spoke everywhere and I said: Let us make this year that we make every single child born, and unborn, wanted. And today is the end of the year, have we really made the children wanted? I will give you something terrifying. We are fighting abortion by adoption, we have saved thousands of lives, we have sent words to all the clinics, to the hospitals, police stations - please don't destroy the child, we will take the child."
Blessed Mother Teresa

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1979/teresa-lecture.html

pray for an end to abortion

"It is a great poverty that a child should die that you might live as you wish."
Mother Teresa

"If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear." (Mark 4:23)

Obama

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2008/01/obama_still_hop.html

newest senior soldiers!

http://cjbate.blogspot.com/2008/01/newest-soldiers.html

Far left is Bryan Kelly; far right is Jennifer Kelly -- Tim's twin nephew and niece!

Come to Estonia this summer! (Please share this with young adults you know!

http://www.use.salvationarmy.org/use/www_use_missionen.nsf/vw-dynamic-index/D1DCF78A2E349A18852573D200555859?Opendocument

http://www.use.salvationarmy.org/use/www_use_missionen.nsf/vw-dynamic-index/685A213467AFD4BC852573D200559E89?Opendocument

http://www.use-salvationarmy.org/Downloads/MissionTeam08Application.pdf

I CHOOSE LIFE!

http://www.thesingingcompany.com/ Click on "I Choose Life" halfway down the list of songs on the right.

http://www.epm.org/resources-prolife_abortion.html

http://www.marchforlife.org/

http://www.nrlc.org/

http://www.feministsforlife.org/

http://www.prolifeaction.org/faq/abortion.htm On January 22, 1973, the United States Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, handed down two rulings legalizing abortion in America.

"This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life...." (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)

book recommendations

Chris wrote about MLK Day on his blog:

http://chrischronicles.blogspot.com/2008/01/martin-luther-king-jr-day.html

He just read Black Like Me.

I just finished reading Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington.

What are you reading?

Evelyn

MLK on PBS

http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/special/king.html?campaign=pbshomefeatures_1_celebratingmartinlutherkingjrwithtavissmiley_2008-01-21

Elisabeth Elliott

http://www.blueletterbible.org/audio_video/elliot_elisabeth/misc/Elisabeth_Elliot_Speaks_About_template.html

Scroll down to "A Missionary's Expectation" and listen!

Racial Reconciliation

http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac0701.asp

sharing as requested (please read)

http://www.fuller.edu/sis/resources/gibbsinst.asp

That same Jesus said to his followers, "As the Father has sent me, even so send I you." Paul was called by the Risen Christ to continue that mission. Indeed, it is hard to separate his conversion from his commissioning. He describes his missionary calling in that renowned passage in 1 Corinthians 9:19-22, which hits us with fresh force in Eugene Peterson's graphic paraphrase:
‘I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, non-religious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized. whoever. I don't take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ. but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I've become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn't just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it.’

resources for MLK Day

http://www.christianitytoday.com/holidays/bhmonth/mlkj.html

assert a healthy Salvationist culture and change the national culture

Wow, I couldn't even finish his whole post before rushing to quote this line: "Salvationist culture supercedes national culture"! Woo-hoo, preach it, Brother! Now, please notice, he said "Salvationst" culture -- NOT North American culture, not even British culture! I'd love to see THAT idea expanded on. (As usual, I am basically 100% in agreement with anything Steve Court says, unless we are having a personal discussion, in which case I am always right!)

Here's the source, and the context:
http://www.armybarmy.com/blog.html

People like to hide behind the culture. 'Culture' is used as a reason we can't do things certain ways. But watch this. Some of the things we suggest (e.g. primitive salvationism) are just as unpopular in North America as in Oceania (and, I expect they will be just as effective in Oceania as they are in North America).

And Salvationist culture supercedes national culture anyway. Often what is presented as culture is really mediocre SA status quo (or imitated mainstream church culture). For example, some suggest that Aussie Salvos are not demonstrably passionate, to which I suggest they slap on the telly and see Australian Idol, or flip the channel and see everyone going bonkers over Aussie Rules Football or Cricket (!) (or, even [whispered] one of those big flashy 'music'-focus churches).

So, you're left with mainstream church culture, usually unthinkingly adopted as we hanker after SOMETHING that works in our infatuation with churches. So, some officers call themselves 'pastor' because, apparently, that fancy big church has a pastor (therefore, if I call myself a pastor, our little corps will become, mysteriously, a fancy big church). They ignore the lack of Biblical basis for a word that means nothing (but slicked back hair and bad breath) to most people. If they were slightly interested in the Biblical, they'd call themselves shepherd instead. But going down that road of thoughtless imitation slights an officer, who is much more than just one gift or one office (Eph 4). Besides, WHY identify with a group (the 'pastored' churches) that have been rejected as irrelevant and obsolete by 93% of the population (which doesn't attend church ever)?

There are NO good reasons for it. Plus, we pick up some theological baggage that is foreign to Salvationism and unhelpful in the Salvation War. So, THINK.And don't hid behind the 'culture' (assert a healthy SALVATIONIST culture and CHANGE the national culture).

We're not slaves to relevance. We're agents of revolution. As GSR asserted, "merely to recommend revolution is contemptible. We must make it."

[GSR=Commissioner George Scott Railton]

I would like to add that this would obviously apply to all the various subcultures, e.g. African-American culture in Chester, Pennsylvania; Estonian culture and Russian culture in Tallinn, Estonia

Recruits

I've been feeling quite down and discouraged lately, but I'm not going to blog about that. Just a quick request that you would be praying for me! I think that the enemy is not pleased about my promise to speak only in Estonian at the corps. Anyway, it's been way more tiring for me (mentally and emotionally) than I had anticipated.

But I want to tell you about one of our recruits! Her name is Kersti, and her son is married to Sirje's daughter. (I have no idea what, if any, relation that makes the two of them, but basically it's a sister-in-love sort of thing which is really wonderful.)

On Thursday evenings we have three corps programs, and it's my "heavy" (busy) night of the week: Songsters, Bible Study, and NELK (women's ministries). It means I speak (and listen!) in Estonian for three and a half hours straight, which is way more exhausting than it sounds!

Anyway, Kersti came running in very excited about becoming a soldier. I'm actually not sure of the exact verb she used, but it was something about being a soldier anyway! She's Estonian; Estonians don't normally run around yelling about anything. But she was SO excited to show us that since Sunday's first recruits class, she has been memorizing the doctrines! She wrote them out on little pieces of paper that fit inside her eyeglasses case. She works at a big department store, so I guess whenever she gets a spare moment, she pulls out one of the papers!

There are all kinds of stressful meetings taking place today; we never have enough money and we're always having to cut our budgets (which, we're really afraid, today will mean cutting what we consider to be a very good and important program!). All of the meetings will probably be over by the time you wake up and read this, if you are in America, but your prayers would be appreciated just the same!

Thanks,
Evelyn

The Vision

http://www.umnprayerroom.com/thevision.html

Please click on the link above and read it!

I just finished reading Red Moon Rising; it's awesome. (Got it in boxes that arrived on Saturday, just finished reading it now -- Monday morning! Thanks for the Mission Advance Resource Guide, Uncle Billy!)

May it be said of us all: "I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven" (Acts 26:19)!

Evelyn

an American teenager in Estonia

from http://www.armybarmy.com/blog.html
"Praise the Lord. He is worthy to be praised. He who heals, restores, raises from the dead, saves and sanctifies through a German man in Africa can do it through an American teenager in Estonia, a British warrior in London Ontario, a shouting Italian in Texas, a Newfie mother in Vancouver, a Hoosier in St. Petes, and a Canadian schoolboy in Melbourne!God help us to GO in faith today and see great fruit.----(Don't forget to pray for the General at noon)"

Example or prophecy? :-)

Evelyn

Estonia

http://www.24-7prayer.com/ow/country.php?country_id=125

http://www.24-7prayer.com/ow/country2.php?country_id=125&lang=en

revolutions

from http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Revolution/id/1896855

Singing Revolution – (1988) Bloodless overthrow of Communist Party-run state in Estonia.
Romanian Revolution – (1989) Violent overthrow of Communist Party-run state in Romania.
Velvet Revolution – (1989) Bloodless overthrow of Communist Party-run state in Czechoslovakia.
Bulldozer Revolution – (2000) Bloodless overthrow of Slobodan Milošević's régime in Yugoslavia.
Rose Revolution in Georgia (2003)
Orange Revolution in Ukraine (2004)
Cedar Revolution in Lebanon (2005)
Tulip Revolution or Yellow Revolution in Kyrgyzstan (2005)

Tallinn according to Rick Steves

http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/scan/tallinn.htm

loe teist blogi

Ma kirjutasin midagi siia http://armastaneestimaad.blogspot.com/

the distressing disguise of the poor

Jesus came to our corps last night, but we didn't recognize him.

We had just had a Bible study thinking about William Booth's famous "I'll Fight" speech. (I've given up trying to determine the authenticity of his words; whether he said them or not, he certainly lived them.) We read Isaiah 43:18-19 and Philippians 3:12-14, and then talked about the theme that our Territory is focusing on this year, "They Need Christ" (Gowans & Larsson song). One of the women cried as she spoke about her life, and it was very poignant to have read these words, "while women weep, as they do now" just moments earlier. We have a lot of drunkards at our corps, and we talked a lot about our need to love them without fear, acknowleding that many years ago a soldier of our corps was killed by a homeless person. We talked about an Estonian woman in England who may be the victim of Human Trafficking, and the SA's efforts to help her. We talked about the fact that we truly are in a war, and while it is a spiritual war, there are at times physical casualties, such as Colonel Brekke and our soldier Lembit.

It was my first Bible Study leading all in Estonian. (My New Year's promise is to speak ONLY in Estonian when I'm at the corps! What was I thinking?!) And it went okay. I'm really proud of the heart change I have seen in our corps people.

Then we had NELK, which is our Women's Ministries program. I kept thinking I heard little noises, but had a clear view of the whole first floor from where I was sitting, and didn't see anything. Later, other women said they also heard things, but thought it was the tram going by outside.

Tim came to pick me up, and went upstairs to put in a load of wash because our washing machine is at the repair shop. When he went upstairs, he also heard a noise, and went into the Youth Room to investigate. There he found a man hiding behind a couch. Tim was SO angry; his face was ashen! He brought him downstairs, and we heard that he was homeless, didn't have any money, needed clothes, etc. But the strange thing was, he didn't look homeless! He was dressed like a businessman -- dress coat, dress shoes, dress clothes, hair combed neatly, etc. I thought he smelled funny (had he been drinking?), and Tim said it was cologne!

Tim was about ready to call the police on him, or at least throw him out like the bar scene from "It's a Wonderful Life"! But I got him a hat, mittens, and candles that he asked for. I showed him the paper saying where there are homeless shelters, showed him the paper explaining about our homeless day center, told him to come back the next day to talk to our social worker, etc. I felt I had done all I could for him at that moment.

But I haven't been able to get him out of my mind. Neither has Tim! We have dozens of homeless men who come into our building each week asking for help. Why was this one so different? He was NOT dressed for the weather at all; he didn't look prepared to spend a night out in freezing temperatures. But we just showed him the door and said good-bye.

This is a puzzle with a lot of missing pieces. Why did he sneak upstairs instead of walking into the dining room to ask for help?

But this morning, I realize that again this was Jesus coming to us in the distressing disguise of the poor. And I'm not exactly sure it's guilt I'm feeling -- more like fear! We kicked Jesus out the door, and Scripture says he ain't gonna like that!! On the other hand, what more could I have done for him?

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
...
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
(Matthew 25:31-46)

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' ; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' "
"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
[you know the story of the good Samaritan, which Jesus tells here]
"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
(Luke 10:25-37)

Mercy triumphs over judgment!
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
(James 2:13-26)

May God have mercy on us, and give us another chance!

Rule of Life

from http://www.mustardseedorder.com/cm/home/9

Many of the men and women God has used most powerfully over the last two thousand years in every Christian tradition have lived according to a Rule of Life. Sometimes their Rule was not explicit, but more often, it was set out carefully and followed diligently. Some of these saints developed their own Rules, while others pledged themselves to existing Orders and communities.

Rules have been the heartbeat of life for many of those we esteem the most:
for saints from St. Francis of Assisi to Mother Teresa,
for great leaders from John Wesley to William Booth,
for great preachers from Charles Finney to Billy Graham,
for mystics from Teresa of Avilla to Thomas Merton,
for theologians from Augustine to Bonhoeffer.
All these people (and countless others in every walk of life) came to a critical moment in their lives when they chose to make a covenant, to follow a spiritual Rule of Life that would serve them as a compass, a metronome, and a plumb line for every other thing they did from that day onwards.

In the light of such an impressive list of advocates, it is surprising that so few Evangelicals and Charismatics currently practice this powerful tool for personal growth and a deeper walk with Jesus.

Discover Your Call

http://www.24-7prayer.com/cm/lodown/490

reflections on 2007, written by an Estonian woman (not me!) and shared with her permission

The end of the April in Estonia was anything but calm... we had sort of riots... But everything is calm now and I hope we all learn from it. On April 28th was the first time in my life when
I got the SMS from the Estonian Government: "Please stay at home, do
not let yourself be provoked"... If you're interested to know more, you can click the links below It's from Estonian media but with English subtitles. I think you get quite good overview
what it was really about... at least from Estonia's point of view...
Both videos are 10 minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjPw3pYGELA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WAFNVFNME0&feature=related

In December Estonia joined with Schengen. So… Welcome to Estonia!
Here's one clip for trying to make you visit Tallinn:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3X_tr0PEog

About sport… Estonians got some medals… But let's not talk about football…
But it was culturally good year…
In summer we had a Song Festival. And we were very lucky with the weather. Nice and sunny! If you want to see 20,000 young people singing at the same time: you can hear one of the songs called "Palve" (means "Prayer")
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_epUNDItzfk&feature=related

We didn't do well in Eurovision. My favourite song didn't win Estonian song contest, so you probably haven't heard it. It's now in one Estonian new musical "Romeo and Julia"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKVcw9fw22E&feature=related

If you want to listen more the most beautiful language in the world (Estonian, of course). There's one link: Song from one of my favourite Estonian composers (with English subtitles):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOrEdIxGPoA

Roots Matter

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/2007/004/4.42.html

In Loving Memory of Riina Tiks, Promoted to Glory 29.12.07

Her funeral is tomorrow (Fri. 4 Jan. 2008) at the Tallinn Crematorium at 3:30 p.m.

Take Time to Be Holy!

excerpted from http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2007/004/12.96.html

An early 20th-century Salvation Army officer, Samuel Logan Brengle, embodies for me everything I could imagine a holy person to be. Brengle served God as an evangelist and revival speaker for approximately 40 years.
Clarence Hall's biography of Brengle records these words (in the context of the Salvation Army) from an anonymous source describing Brengle: "There are men to whose name rank and title add weight, prestige; whose position in the minds of their fellows is elevated by it. But not so with Brengle. Rank does not give increase to that name; neither would lack of rank diminish it. In the minds of people the world over, the name Brengle means holiness, sweetness, love, benediction, blessing, power; Commissioner Brengle means no more. Though the rank he has recently added is just recognition of his value to the Salvation Army, it is a superfluity in the evaluation of the man himself."
The writer here is pointing to the Life underneath the professional life, to the characteristics that point beyond the man toward the God to whom he had dedicated his life.
As a truly holy man, Brengle did not set himself above others, nor did he attempt to flaunt some kind of cheap piety.
Hall writes: "Looking him over at close range, men saw in Brengle these three: humanity, humility, and—humor … to them the most surprising of these was humor. Others (found) that this man's saintliness sparkled and bubbled with good nature, that his humor was gentle, whimsical, graceful. His smile was the kind that opened suddenly, like a bursting skyrocket; it would start in his eyes, twinkle there, then wreathe and wrinkle over his face, shake his body, and seem to run vitalizingly to his very toes."
People sought his presence. Again, Hall (quoting a Salvation Army associate): "I have seen the leading commissioners, engulfed with a thousand duties, set aside their papers, dismiss their stenographers, lock the door, and wait upon the American preacher. They wanted him near, they felt their need of this holy man, and all their actions seemed to say: 'It is holy ground, Brengle is here.'"
I have read the Brengle biography at least a dozen times. Few books in my library inspire me as much as this one does when I feel that my personal arrangements with God are slipping (or, to use Longstaff's words, when I am not spending time in secret with Jesus).
What I see is a man who knew lots about life in the streets but saw it from the perspective of knowing lots about life in the Lord's presence. After reading of Brengle, I'm pointed in a better direction: seeking deeper communion with the Father.
Common threads of holiness
When one reads the Scriptures and the church fathers on this theme of being holy, and when one reads appropriate biographies of the great spiritual champions, and when one observes the lives of less-than-prestigious people who seem to have gone deeper with Jesus than most, you see these commonalities:
They don't second guess their decision to intentionally follow Jesus. They possess a powerful (not necessarily spectacular) sense of personal conversion, and they readily invite others to share the same experience.
They conscientiously prioritize life so that they spend ample time in personal worship, reflection in Scripture, and prayer (listening to God and absorbing whatever God wishes for them to know and experience).
They make a steady effort to discipline their lives toward virtues that reflect Jesus. They cultivate a healthy hatred of sin and all that corrupts life.
They cultivate healthy relationships—both giving and taking—and add value to each human encounter. I might add that they usually understand that their connection with God is often in the context of "community" and not merely as solo-saints.
They engage the larger world with a humbled mind to serve and seek justice and mercy for those weaker than they.
I see these qualities in Commissioner Brengle, and I have no doubt that this man would have been a spiritual influence in any branch of the Christian movement. Not because of his giftedness as a preacher and evangelist, but because of this underlying holy life that compelled people to feel nearer to God when he was around.
Clarence Hall writes of a night when Brengle was introduced to a crowd as "the great Colonel Brengle." He was apparently disturbed by this excessive introduction and wrote in his journal: "If I appear great in their eyes, the Lord is most graciously helping me to see how absolutely nothing I am without Him, and helping to keep little in my own eyes. He does use me. But I am also conscious that He uses me, and that it is not of me that the work is done. The axe cannot boast of trees it has cut down. It could do nothing but for the woodsman. He made it, he sharpened it, he used it, and the moment he throws it aside, it becomes only old iron. Oh, that I may never lose sight of this."
This perspective made Brengle tender, not hard.
"There is nothing about holiness to make people hard and unsympathetic and difficult to approach," Brengle wrote. "It is an experience that makes a man pre-eminently human; it liberates his sympathies, it fills him with love to all mankind, with compassion for sinners, with kindness and pity for them that are ignorant and out of the way. And while it makes him stern with himself, it makes him gentle with others."
The soil of suffering
One of the elements of Brengle's life that many of us would like to avoid is the fact that the man knew suffering. During his assignment to the Boston Corps, he was accosted by a thug who threw a paving brick at him from a distance of just ten feet. The brick hit Brengle in the head with full force, and he almost died. He was forced to spend 18 months in rehabilitation. From then on, he suffered periodically from excruciating headaches and bouts of depression.
During his recovery, Brengle wrote what was probably his best book, Helps to Holiness, and would often quip, "Well, if there had been no little brick, there would have been no little book."
Hall writes that Brengle "never allowed himself to give in (to physical weakness) until completely overcome, but would laugh away all minor complaints as mere trifles, maintaining a happy buoyant spirit until some malady positively forced him to bed. His spirit drilled his body into an habitually erect and optimistic carriage, which could be forced to drop but could not be induced to droop."
Brengle said: "God does not make pets of His people, and especially of those whom He woos and wins into close fellowship with Himself, and fits and crowns for great and high service. His greatest servants have often been the greatest sufferers." I don't think the Commissioner would have had a lot of use for a prosperity gospel or for a faith that is devoid of struggle.

faithfulness!

Lamentations 3:22-26

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."
The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.

let me dedicate this new year

SASB 916

Father, let me dedicate
This new year to thee,
In whatever worldly state
Thou wilt have me be;
Not from sorrow, pain, or care
Would I ask that thou shouldst spare;
This alone shall be my prayer,
Glorify thy name.

Thy great name! Thy great name!
Let my life, O Lord, each day
Glorify thy name.

If in mercy thou wilt spare
Joys that yet are mine,
If on life serene and fair
Brighter rays may shine,
Let my glad heart, while it sings,
Rise by faith's exultant wings,
And, whate'er the future brings,
Glorify thy name.

If thou callest to the cross,
And its shadow come
Turning all my gain to loss,
Shrouding heart and home,
Let me think how thy dear Son
His eternal glory won,
And in steadfast faith pray on:
Glorify thy name.

Lawrence Tuttiett (1825-97) (verses), alt