encouragement for today

“I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish He didn't trust me so much.”
Mother Teresa

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:4-7

ArmyBarmy readers

I'd be extremely interested in hearing your feedback on the following posts:

http://kopli8.blogspot.com/2008/09/abortion-feedback-needed-and.html

http://kopli8.blogspot.com/2008/09/abortion-again.html

http://kopli8.blogspot.com/2008/09/40-days-for-life.html

On this day when the General has asked us all to pray for Victims of Human Trafficking, let's not forget to pray for the victims (baby, mother, AND father) of abortion as well!

Evelyn

40 Days for Life

40 Days for Life

40 Days for Life
Will you participate?
Posted by Danielle Bean in Family on Monday, September 22, 2008 3:10 PM
Have you heard of 40 Days for Life? It’s a pro-life campaign of prayer and fasting, constant vigil, and community outreach that begins this Wednesday, September 24.
All of us can commit to praying and fasting for life. Will you?

I'm planning to do the Daniel Fast for 40 days. Who will join me?

Evelyn

pray for peace in India

"no nation owns my soul"

No home on earth have I,
No nation owns my soul,
My dwelling place is the Most High,
I'm under his control.
O'er all the earth alike,
My Father's grand domain,
Each land and sea with him alike
O'er all he yet shall reign.

No place on earth I own,
No field, no house be mine;
Myself, my all I still disown,
My God, let all be thine.
Into thy gracious hands
My life is ever placed;
To die fulfilling thy commands,
I march with bounding haste.

With thee, my God, is home;
With thee is endless joy;
With thee in ceaseless rest I roam;
With thee, can death destroy?
With thee, the east, the west,
The north, the south are one;
The battle's front I love the best,
And yet: thy will be done.

George Scott Railton (1849-1913)

"cry for just a while"

They don't know that I go running home when I fall down
They don't know who picks me up when no one is around
I drop my sword and cry for just a while
'Cause deep inside this armor
The warrior is a child

I remember Raymond singing this song when he really WAS a child (we all were! we weren't adults yet!). I pray that "the God of all comfort" will pick up Christianne and Ryan "when no one is around" -- and when lots of other people are around!

2CO 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

"vocal soloist to have the greatest impact on audiences in recent times has been Raymond J. Livingston"

"Perhaps the band vocal soloist to have the greatest impact on audiences in recent times has been Raymond J. Livingston, whose energetic, contemporary style voice, connected with a Broadway style brass band accompaniment, made for great programming. He could always 'bring the house down' with powerful arrangements like Into the Fire (Wildhorn, arr. Bowden), recorded on Blazing Brass and, especially, Be Strong and Take Courage (Chaisson-Kirkland, arr. Norbury), a centerpiece of the God and Country CD."
from pp. 236-237 of
The Proclaimers: A History of the New York Staff Band
by Ronald W. Holz

"the pain falls like a curtain ... the questions without answers"

I just watched a video of Raymond singing this song at Congress last year. It was part of the "How Great Is Our God" piece arranged by Dorothy Gates. Raymond and I were in Bible Bowl together, so this scripture reference is quite appropriate:
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
"Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?"
"Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?"
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
(Romans 11:33-36)

And the pain falls like a curtain
On the things I once called certain
And I have to say the words I fear the most
I just don't know

And the questions without answers
Come and paralyze the dancer
So I stand here on the stage afraid to move
Afraid to fall, oh, but fall I must
On this truth that my life has been formed from the dust

God is God and I am not
I can only see a part of the picture He's painting
God is God and I am man
So I'll never understand it all
For only God is God

And the sky begins to thunder
And I'm filled with awe and wonder
'Til the only burning question that remains
Is who am I

Can I form a single mountain
Or take the stars in hand and count them
Can I even take a breath without God giving it to me
He is first and last before all that has been
Beyond all that will pass

God is God and I am not
I can only see a part of the picture He's painting
God is God and I am man
So I'll never understand it all
For only God is God

Oh, how great are the riches of His wisdom and knowledge
How unsearchable for to Him and through Him and from Him are all things

So let us worship before the throne
Of the One who is worthy of worship alone

God is God and I am not
I can only see a part of the picture He's painting
God is God and I am man
So I'll never understand it all
For only God is God

-- Steven Curtis Chapman

"it's hard to let you go" Raymond

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbPKaIozS-c

a chapter of your life is through
But we'll keep you close as always

'Cause our hearts in big and small ways
Will keep the love that keeps us strong

And friends are friends forever
If the Lord's the Lord of them

Though it's hard to let you go
In the Father's hands

And with the faith and love God's given
Springing from the hope we know
We will pray the joy you live in

The first chapter, actually the first paragraph of the preface, of Raymond's life is through. But now he begins the great adventure of the actual book of his life in God's presence! The word "forever" has a different meaning for us now, a stronger one -- eternity -- forever.

"It's hard to let you go." It really is. But we know that you're "in the Father's hands," Raymond!

The joy Raymond now lives in is something we cannot even imagine. The greatest joys here on earth are only a shadow of that true joy which awaits us.

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.
(1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

In Loving Memory of Raymond Jay Livingston

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t74FDRRDhxk

abortion again

from http://www.salvationarmy.org/ihq/www_ihq_general.nsf/vw-dynamic-index/87BD3DF62F0F179F802572ED00564052?Opendocument
B: You involve yourselves with questions such as abortion. I am assuming that The Salvation Army is against it?
S.C. That's too simple. We are not as conservative as our catholic brothers and sisters. There are situations in which abortion is the lesser evil, for instance in cases of severe deformities of the foetus, [or] rape. We try to support women who find themselves in this situation and to be loyal to them, even if they make decisions that we ourselves might not have made.

from http://www.salvationarmy.org/ihq/www_ihq_general.nsf/vw-sublinks/E97396CDE588190A80257226005ADB03?openDocument
Some Salvationists have very conservative views on abortion, others have a more liberal approach to abortion.

reposting in honor of her birthday

"Harmful Wealth" by Captain Danielle Strickland

If I start trying to quote an excerpt from this article, I will end up typing up the whole thing! So here are some snippets:

"You must, as far as you can, keep from her ... finery, wealth ... and every influence likely to injure her." [Ceremonies Book]

I had no idea we understood as an early Movement that wealth was not simply a neutral part of our lives but a harmful influence on our character.

And still our officers' quarters are most often placed in the suburbs of wealth.

Officer-parents may want to read again what we have promised and officer-kids may need some education around the harmful influence of wealth on the world, cities and our own hearts.

Perhaps our prophetic power has been stripped by ... our current wealthy status.

WJSL Houghton

http://www.wxxi.org/radio/wjsl/index.html

love ... do good ... be honest and frank ... build ... help people

from http://www.paradoxicalpeople.com/paradoxicalpeople/the_mother_teresa_connection/

According to Lucinda Vardey, in Mother Teresa: A Simple Path (New York: Ballantine Books, 1995), page 185, there was “a sign on the wall of Shishu Bhavan, the children’s home in Calcutta.” This is what the sign said:
ANYWAY
People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered,
LOVE THEM ANYWAY
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives,
DO GOOD ANYWAY
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies,
SUCCEED ANYWAY
The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow,
DO GOOD ANYWAY
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable,
BE HONEST AND FRANK ANYWAY
What you spent years building may be destroyed overnight,
BUILD ANYWAY
People really need help but may attack you if you help them,
HELP PEOPLE ANYWAY
Give the world the best you have
And you’ll get kicked in the teeth,
GIVE THE WORLD THE BEST YOU’VE GOT ANYWAY.

hat tip http://www.ismckenzie.com/09/11/the-paradoxical-commandments/

Congress report

Here's the report on the Territorial Congress from the IHQ web site. You can see Inge with the corps flag in the top picture, and Elizabeth singing in the picture of the children's choir.

abortion -- feedback needed and appreciated!

everything below is from http://patriciabainbridge.blogspot.com/2007/03/do-good-causes-always-promote-good.html; I would greatly appreciate your comments

Probably the most surprising group holding to immoral ideologies is the Salvation Army. Most of us are aware of the good work done by the Salvation Army, but few people are aware that the Salvation Army promotes contraception and approves of abortion in cases of rape, incest, health of the mother and fetal deformity.

The Salvation Army’s International Headquarters states their position clearly:
[The Salvation Army] accepts that termination of a pregnancy may be justified on certain limited grounds; that is, where, in the judgment of competent medical and allied staff, the pregnancy poses a serious threat to the life of the mother, or could result in irreversible physical injury to the mother.
In cases of proven rape or legally defined incest an abortion may be justified because of the extent to which rape and incest violate the whole person. Termination of a pregnancy may also be justified wherereliable diagnostic procedures determine that a foetal [sic] abnormality is present which is incompatible with life other than brief post-natal survival or where there is total absence of cognitive function.

Compare that with the Salvation Army-USA’s position statement:
[the Salvation Army] is opposed to abortion as a means of birth control, family planning, sex selection or for any reason of mere convenience to avoid the responsibility for conception. . . The Salvation Army recognizes tragic and perplexing circumstances that require difficult decisions regarding a pregnancy.
Such decisions should be made only after prayerful and thoughtful consideration, with appropriate involvement of the woman's family and pastoral, medical and other counsel.

So how does this statement differ from the previous one? Basically, the Salvation Army-USA is saying the same thing, but in a slightly disingenuous manner. It has to be read very carefully to understand that the only abortions they oppose are those used for birth control, family planning, sex selection or convenience.

Perhaps the Salvation Army-USA is somewhat bothered by their position on abortion....

"Harmful Wealth" by Captain Danielle Strickland

If I start trying to quote an excerpt from this article, I will end up typing up the whole thing! So here are some snippets:

"You must, as far as you can, keep from her ... finery, wealth ... and every influence likely to injure her." [Ceremonies Book]

I had no idea we understood as an early Movement that wealth was not simply a neutral part of our lives but a harmful influence on our character.

And still our officers' quarters are most often placed in the suburbs of wealth.

Officer-parents may want to read again what we have promised and officer-kids may need some education around the harmful influence of wealth on the world, cities and our own hearts.

Perhaps our prophetic power has been stripped by ... our current wealthy status.

from Alberta's blog!

an excerpt from http://www.xanga.com/bertisinsideout

A group of people we spent most of the summer with is people close to our age, and the officers of the Tallin-Kopli corps. We had two translators, we got to know them well and I would say one of our biggest ministry impacts would be on the 2 translators and a few of the other teens at the corps. We even received a praise report of one of the guys we hung out with Got saved a few weeks after we left.
We led this week at camp for the teens/young adults similar to the youth holiness advance. It was a great week. I think it was very refueling for us as much as it was for the delegates. We did evening programs, which were fun and silly and good times, but the days were intense and busy. I led and co-led a few session thingies like pray the bible, worship, and small groups, it was cool. It was a great spiritually intense week. My favorite thing was the Sunday after the week there were a few testimonies in the holiness meeting, and Evelyn our translator gave one, and she had such honesty about how her first thoughts and attitude about it were bad, and then she ended up learning a lot and understanding stuff better, I was soo excited to hear her speaking, it was great! We also sang the song “You are Holy” a lot that week, and we found out how one of the girls has that as her msn status, and that was cool finding out how that song left a impact on her.
We ran the meetings wherever we were, did a few open airs, and worked hard at spreading the word about the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army is still not well known in Estonia like in America. We cleaned a lot, like camp, the corps, a nunnery, different things. Some of the team put together a prayer room for the corps. Estonia is very beautiful, and God has more in store for the people of Estonia. I pray that more people would come to know Jesus, and be filled with his hope, and filled with Joy. Estonia is really in need of more Joy.
There is so much more I could tell about Estonia, it is something I probably will not stop talking about. So ask and I can tell you all more and more! Estonia has my heart and I will never forget my time there.

"you'd save enough each year to go to Europe"!

I realize that this doesn't apply to everyone's situation, but there are a LOT of people -- certainly virtually ALL Salvation Army officers -- who could literally travel to Europe every year if they'd cut back on other expenses.

We visited Moldova in 1997, and we weren't rich! We visited England in 1999, and we weren't rich! We visited Estonia in 2003, and we weren't rich! But we were frugal.

It's a big world out there. GO SEE IT!

Evelyn

pleasantly surprised ... good Kingdom signs ... authentic Christians

from http://armyrenewal.blogspot.com/

Last Sunday morning I visited our local Roman Catholic Church....

I'd no idea of what to expect, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised....

My heart was strangely warmed to see so many young adults flock to church.... I am still not [convinced about much of the Roman Church], but my experience of the Sacred Heart ... Roman Catholic Church is that there are some good kingdom signs here.

The service was Christ centred, the homily was biblical, the fellowship was warm and, to my joy, we prayed to the Father and not to any saints or to Mary. This was good. Also, there were many normal people here. I know for sure, from experience, that there are a good deal of nominal catholics, but here, I believe I spoke to several authentic Christians....

In the words of our local RC priest, 'God has his hand on [us].'

We stand and lift up our hands
For the joy of the Lord is our strength
We bow down and worship Him now
How great, how awesome is He

And together we sing

Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
The earth is filled with His glory

We stand and lift up our hands
For the joy of the Lord is our strength
We bow down and worship Him now
How great, how awesome is He

And together we sing
Everyone sing

Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
The earth is filled with His glory

It is rising up all around
It's the anthem of the Lord's renown
It is rising up all around
It's the anthem of the Lord's renown

And together we sing
And everyone sing

Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory

Chris Tomlin & Louie Giglio

Copyright © 2003 worshiptogether.com
Songs/sixstepsMusic/Adm. by kingswaysongs.com; for the UK & Europe

holiness

"Holiness is something which is so powerful, that it exists not only in the time of the person's life, but even beyond. It's much like the image of maybe taking a pebble or something and sort of just thowing it into a pond and you have this ripple effect. And so, it's amazing that certain holy people can inspire, and empower -- of course all by God's grace -- people not only in their lifetimes, but even in many lifetimes after that."

"There has always been this desire by some to live the Christian life in an extraordinary way. Now it's important to realize that we're not talking about super-spiritual people, or the elite, or, or, you know, nothing like that. But there is a particular call, and you know this, there's a call to holiness. In some way, you have experienced this, because the way that you are living ... in a way that some people think you're crazy.... In some way you're trying to live a life of a greater perfection. And even if perhaps some of the things that others do that are not sinful in their essence, you yourself are sort of saying, well it's maybe not sinful in its essence but it's not good and it's not helpful for me in my relationship with Jesus, and therefore I'm going to forego this.... To refrain from certain things can aid to our holiness."

"Are you being as holy as God is calling you to holiness?"

http://www.houghton.edu/spirit/chapels/2006%20Fall/11-27%20Franciscan%20Friars.mp3

Chris's Greek professor is an Estonian woman!

http://religionphilosophy.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_archive.html

This was written by Prof. Külli Tõniste, who teaches Chris's Greek class! His very first college class is with her (8:00 in the morning!) today.

Please read this.

Evelyn