Salvationist 23 January 2021

SALVATIONIST For everyone linked to The Salvation Army

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QUOTES FROM THE MEDIA

MARRIAGE FOUNDATION PROPOSES PARED-BACK, SIMPLER WEDDING CEREMONIES Couples on lower incomes are deterred from marrying because of the perceived cost of weddings, the think tank the Marriage Foundation has said.

It called for ‘a new era of simpler, pared-back ceremonies, so that marriage will once again be for all’.

A report published ... by the director of research at the Marriage Foundation, Harry Benson, Will Cheaper Weddings Bridge the Marriage Gap?, stated that there had been an increasing gap in marriage rates between those from higher and lowerincome groups during the past three decades…

The report also drew on the results of a 2012 survey from the law firm Seddons … [which] found that 51 per cent of the men and 38 per cent of the women ... cohabiting or in a relationship said that the cost of a wedding was the main reason that they were not getting married.

It is mandatory for wedding ceremonies to take place in a registered building, and to be either civil or religious. The proposals put forward … from the Law Commission argued for the rules to be updated so that couples could have more choice, including that of a less expensive venue.

Church Times

SALVATIONIST

UK IS FACING DEBT ‘TIME BOMB’, CHRISTIAN CHARITY WARNS

RITUAL BATH FROM THE TIME OF JESUS FOUND AT GETHSEMANE

The St Vincent de Paul Society is warning of a debt ‘time bomb’ for millions of families as the pandemic takes its toll.

The Christian charity, which supports people in financial hardship, said that many families were facing uncertainty as Britain slides into another recession.

It warns that more families once able to get by have now been pushed into the poverty zone due to the economic fallout of the pandemic, and that the true scale of the debt problem is being masked by government schemes.

Luke Denison, debt advice supervisor at St Vincent’s Leeds, said: ‘People are racking up debt, but less individuals than usual are coming forward right now.

‘We believe this is due to most enforcement and eviction action being temporarily suspended, along with most creditors scaling back their collection efforts for the time being.’

Archaeological remnants from the time of Jesus have been found at Gethsemane, the place where he prayed on the night he was betrayed.

In a dig carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority near the modern church of Gethsemane, at the foot of the Mount of Olives, just east of the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City, the remnants of a Jewish ritual bath were discovered, with the steps … still intact.

The ritual bath would have been used by those about to pray or to walk up the next hill to worship at the Jewish Temple. If the oil and wine made there were destined for sacred use in the Temple, the bath would have been used by workers before they operated the press.

According to the New Testament, Gethsemane, from the Hebrew gat shemanim (oil press), is the site where Jesus was betrayed by one of his disciples and arrested by the Romans.

Christian Today

The Times

BRITAIN IS STILL A CHRISTIAN COUNTRY, SAY MOST BRITS Most Brits, including those with no faith, still regard the UK as a Christian country, a YouGov poll has found.

Over half (56 per cent) of the 2,169 people surveyed said the UK was a Christian country, a proportion that rose to over two thirds (69 per cent) among Christians.

Even a significant share of non-Christians (47 per cent) and the non-religious (49 per cent) said the same.

However, young people – those aged 16 to 24 – were split on whether the UK was a Christian country, with 41 per cent saying it was and 39 per cent saying it wasn’t…

The study also found universal support for Christmas and Easter remaining as public holidays.

Christian Today

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Salvationist 23 January 2021

THE SALVATION ARMY FOUNDER William Booth GENERAL Brian Peddle TERRITORIAL COMMANDER Commissioner Anthony Cotterill EDITOR-IN-CHIEF AND PUBLISHING SECRETARY Major Mal Davies

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CONTENTS

BUBBLE TROUBLE JUST last week I caught up with a podcast I’d downloaded in November called ‘Physics in all its glory’, a programme in Andrew Marr’s Start the Week series on BBC Radio 4. One of the scientists Marr interviewed was Helen Czerski, who researches the physics of breaking waves and bubbles on the ocean surface. She explained that a bubble is ‘a blob of gas inside some liquid, and they’re trying not to mix’. She went on to explain that most of Earth’s bubbles are generated by enormous breaking waves and storms, and that they help the oceans breathe.

The idea of a bubble is a wonderful metaphor. It’s one that we’ve become used to in the coronavirus pandemic, as households have been able to form support bubbles by including adults who live by themselves or single parents with children under 18. These kinds of bubbles have been a social lifeline for many people while providing protection from the coronavirus.

Ron Thomlinson and the Rev Jim Macfarlane have another kind of bubble in mind in their article. Ron looks at the ‘Army bubble’ that he grew up in – a ‘safe and protective place’ where he was shielded from the world. Within this bubble people were expected to attain high standards of holiness, which he admits was difficult. Jim helps him out by suggesting that the grace of God, which comes in the form of forgiveness, can inspire us to live the Christian life.

There’s an echo of that thought in the preview of the book Come and See by the Archbishop of York. It focuses on Peter, the disciple who ‘takes a step of faith and then flounders, and needs the saving touch of God to continue becoming the person he was created to be’.

This week’s Bible study also features Peter. Major Tim Johnson looks at how the early Church broke out of its Jewish Christian bubble to reach the Gentile world after Peter’s famous vision in Acts 10. From then on the Church was open to all.

Captain Peter Hobbs is concerned that, even though the Army is open to all, there is still an exclusive bubble when it comes to soldiership. He contrasts the disciples of Jewish rabbis, who would have to ‘jump through a lot of hoops’, with the disciples of Jesus, who were simply called to follow and get involved in his mission. Captain Peter suggests that soldiership is a bit like the former, but should be more like the latter.

In response to that article, Major Merv Holland looks back at the way conditions for membership of William Booth’s organisation became increasingly complicated, from the early days of the East London Christian Revival Society to the more developed Salvation Army.

It is sometimes said that Christians are called to be in the world but not of the world.

In other words, not living in an exclusive bubble, but being involved in people’s lives and situations, sharing the gospel and offering practical service – and all the while aiming to be like Jesus by keeping free of the attitudes and behaviour that sometimes characterise the culture around us.

It’s a challenging calling, but we are promised the power of the Spirit to help us and the grace of God to lift us when we fall.

Quotes from the media

2

Message from the territorial commander

4

News

5 to 8

Prayer matters

8

On my bookshelf Books that challenge and inspire

9

by Dave Perkins

Viewpoint The soldiership dilemma

10

by Captain Peter Hobbs

Viewpoint Getting back to basics

11

by Major Merv Holland

Feature A kindness economy

12 and 13

by Melita Day-Lewis

Viewpoint Bubble and squeak

14

by Ron Thomlinson with the Rev James Macfarlane

Groaning creation Pleasing and praising God

15

by Major Howard Webber

Bible study Open to all

16 and 17

by Major Tim Johnson

Through the week with Salvationist 16 and 17

by Major Howard Webber

Reflection Tim for a rest?

18

by Jim Burns

Poets’ corner

19

Review The Informant: A Contemporary Parable

20

reviewed by Major Andrew Stone

Preview Come and See: Learning from the Life of Peter

20

by Stephen Cottrell

Adverts

From the Editor Lieut-Colonel Jonathan Roberts

21 and 23

Announcements

22

Quiz

24

SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS Scripture quotations in Salvationist are from the New International Version (2011), unless otherwise stated

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A MESSAGE FROM THE TERRITORIAL COMMANDER

Comfort in the storm

W

HEN I was 18 I lived in Bournemouth, where my parents were the corps officers at Boscombe. They received a letter appointing them to Regent Hall, right in the centre of London. The problem was that their move would be just before I took my A-level exams. So, for a number of weeks, I remained in Bournemouth after they had moved on, and for the first time in my life I had new corps officers.

Majors Marian and Norman Howe were – and still are – superb, godly Christian leaders.

When it was time for me to go to London, they gave me a good farewell in the Sunday evening meeting. Marian preached a sermon that I’ve never forgotten and gave me some Scripture verses from Isaiah 43. They have sustained me in many situations and I have a strong sense that they are just as appropriate for us today: ‘But now, this is what the Lord says – he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire, you will 4

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not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour”’ (vv1–3).

The Lord has ‘summoned you by name’. In other words, we belong to him.

And he doesn’t say ‘if’, he says ‘when’ – it’s an implied inevitability that there will be fires, waters and rivers to pass through.

We continue to walk through metaphorical fires and waters today. The coronavirus pandemic is a storm so severe that, if we’re honest, at times it threatens to overwhelm us.

Over these past months I’ve heard people say that we’re all in the same boat.

To some degree we are, with the same challenges and similar restrictions wherever we are.

The more accurate description, though, is that we’re all in the same storm. Our circumstances are different, as are our resources and resilience. We’re affected differently. And for those who are at greatest risk – the vulnerable, the aged, people who are poor, those who are serving under great stress in the NHS – there is an immense work for the Church to do. We are to look out for them and serve, encourage, pray and be a blessing to them.

We need to join in prayer for so many people who are facing enormous pressures and worries. We join with those praying for NHS staff members as well as Salvation Army staff members in care homes, Lifehouses and nurseries, and for corps up and down the territory serving valiantly in the name of Jesus.

There is a Churches Together initiative calling us to pray, and the Baptist Union of Great Britain has encouraged prayers along the lines that a nurse in a large teaching hospital in England has written.

The prayer is for all NHS staff members – for their safety, energy and peace in dealing with patients; for those in hospital leadership, that wisdom and good decisions bring about the best outcomes; for patients – their healing

and peace – and for their relatives who are feeling so helpless; for the vaccine, that it will work against this latest strain of Covid-19; and for an end to the pandemic.

Here’s a prayer for us all, in the words of the song ‘Part the Waters’.

When I think I’m going under, part the waters, Lord.

When I feel the waves around me, calm the sea.

When I cry for help, oh hear me Lord And hold out your hand, Touch my life, still the raging storm in me.

Knowing you love me, through the burdens I must bear, Hearing your footsteps, lets me know I’m in your care.

And in the night of my life you bring the promise of day.

Here is my hand, show me the way.

There is no doubt we are going through tough days. In time it will become easier, but it’s not going to get better immediately. In fact, it’s going to become harder. There will be more sorrow and sadness in this life for sure. But for eternity, the words of the Lord to Isaiah ring true: ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.’

That encourages my heart. It brings comfort and strength to my being, and I hope it will to you too.

ANTHONY COTTERILL COMMISSIONER TERRITORIAL COMMANDER O This

message is based on a video that can be viewed at facebook.com/ SalvationistOnline or youtube.com/ salvationarmyvideo

NEWS

Editor’s note Events took place before the current coronavirus lockdowns

FUNDRAISING

EMERGENCY AID

Army responds to cyclone damage FIJI

ARMY NEWS

Homelessness service users ‘very satisfied’ with support UKI THE first national survey of people helped by the Homelessness Services Unit (HSU) has revealed outstanding feedback for the welcome and support they received.

In November last year the HSU invited all service users across the territory to rate its services. Of the 830 respondents the vast majority stated they were ‘very satisfied or satisfied’ with the welcome, Covid19 safety measures, and support offered for substance use and mental and physical health.

Service users helped to design the survey’s questions and format, with the support of an independent company, Snap Surveys, and HSU Development Manager Amber Sylvester. All responses were anonymous and most were given online.

Lorrita Johnson, territorial director of homelessness services, said: ‘The results show what a fantastic job our frontline staff and officers have been doing over this very difficult last year. I would be proud of these results at any time but to achieve them in a pandemic is phenomenal.

‘I am grateful for the involvement and feedback from service users, many of whom are staying with us temporarily while waiting for a home of their own. Their responses will help us to improve even further how we support people now and in the future.’ – AR Send your news reports to salvationist@salvationarmy.org.uk.

Good quality pictures will be included.

COWDENBEATH Donna Bremner, who normally attends midweek activities at the corps, walked across the Forth Road Bridge with her carers and parents, raising £1,030. Her donation supported those in need throughout Christmas and into the new year. – KT

COMMUNITY

BO’NESS Corps members spent Christmas Day morning dropping off gifts to those who were on their own in the community. The corps also paid for a hot Christmas dinner to be delivered to each of them. Children in the area received presents donated to the toy appeal and lunch club members received gifts and a Christmas lunch delivered by a restaurant. – CM

THE Salvation Army provided emergency accommodation, food and clean water in the aftermath of Cyclone Yasa in December 2020.

Six evacuation centres sheltered more than 200 people who had to leave their homes after the tropical storm. Emergency food and relief supplies were distributed on the islands of Vanua Levu and Taveuni, while building equipment was provided to shore up damaged homes in Savusavu.

Suva Central Corps, supported by the community, sourced, packed and transported numerous sacks of clothing, shoes, books and other supplies to help their northern neighbours.

Cyclone Yasa followed another category 5 storm, Cyclone Harold, which hit a few months earlier.

Emergency supplies have been used extensively over the past 24 months and are in need of restocking.

Divisional Commander Captain Andrew Moffatt, who travelled to Vanua Levu to support the response, explained that there will be ‘an ongoing need for relief supplies’ on the island. – AR

CORPS

MAIDSTONE A Nativity play was filmed in different locations, including a field of sheep and woodland. The videos were linked together with carols, prayers and Bible readings for a virtual carol service on YouTube. YPSM Hazell Ball used the script God Is With Us – Everywhere! by Fay Rowland to involve everyone, including more than 30 narrators, and members of the band provided the introductory and concluding music. – GP

COMMUNITY MARKET RASEN Local teacher Rachel Pettifer raised roughly £1,700 to buy and donate books, jigsaw puzzles and baby care products after learning about the Army’s Christmas Present Appeal. – TC Salvationist 23 January 2021

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NEWS

OUTREACH

Members of Chester-le-Street Band play carols for shut-ins and people living alone at Christmas

COMMUNITY STRAWBERRY FIELD The team blessed the community at Christmas, providing hampers to families in need from Abbot’s Lea School and gifts for people living on their own. Christmas meals were prepared by the café for those missing out on the usual Christmas Day meal in the village. A small brass group also took to the streets to bring some festive cheer with the help of team members and Liverpool Walton Corps. – LB

OUTREACH

CIRENCESTER Although activities were restricted due to the coronavirus pandemic, band members played carols outside a number of nearby care homes as well as in the nearby villages of Barnsley, Bibury, Kempsford and Meysey Hampton.

A number of online meetings also took place, including a candlelight carol service organised by Corinne and Mark Walters. This was led by corps leader Territorial Envoy Kim Whyard and featured the Nativity story, filmed outside by members of the Sunday club. The usual silhouette of the Nativity was displayed in the window of the hall during Advent. – MG 6

Salvationist 23 January 2021

COMMUNITY

MEETING

UPPER NORWOOD A Christingle service led by corps officer Major Karen Layton included the Gospels’ accounts of Jesus’ birth interspersed with readings from a poem by Godfrey Rust, contemporary video worship songs and prayer.

Members of the congregation were given an orange and sweets to assemble their own Christingle. – RC

SALISBURY The community responded to an appeal for gifts to support people in need over Christmas. The Bourne Valley Rangers (pictured) created several food parcels for people living alone. Families from Tidworth British Forces created packs for rough sleepers and people experiencing chaotic lifestyles.

Flowers, biscuits and chocolates were delivered to older people, thanks to a donation from Marks & Spencer. Approximately 100 families and individuals were supported. – MD

Like our page at SalvationistOnline to keep up to date

COMMUNITY Follow Salvationist on Twitter @SalvationistUK

HARWICH People from the community and corps gave time to pack Christmas food boxes for 110 families and toys and gifts for 260 children and 190 adults. Pictured are Councillors Ivan and Jo Henderson. – SM

ARMY NEWS

Army expands support for modern slavery survivors UKI

NEWS IN BRIEF KENT The Salvation Army worked with the emergency services as part of Operation Stack to support lorry drivers in severe traffic delays on the M20 just before Christmas.

A small team of staff members and volunteers prepared and delivered 2,500 lunch bags to Kent police for distribution to drivers in need. A JustGiving page set up by the South East Division also raised almost £19,000 towards maintaining emergency supplies so the team can respond when next needed. – AR

PRESENTATION DROITWICH SPA Lifelong Salvationist Richard Campbell was appointed MBE for services to the community in the West Midlands and Worcestershire. Over the past 50 years he has organised events at venues such as Symphony Hall, raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for The Salvation Army and other charities. In his working life, Richard has helped many disadvantaged young people and people with special needs to improve their life experiences and employability. – MM

COMMUNITY

CARDIFF The Salvation Army has thanked Cardiff City Football Club for helping support families in need over the festive season. First-team players Curtis Nelson and Robert Glatzel handed over new toys to the Army for the Christmas Present Appeal.

– AR SWINDON CITADEL With permission from local authorities, two socially distanced groups of band members brought familiar Christmas melodies to shoppers in the town centre. – KS

HARWICH The corps received support from Essex council’s winter food fund to provide fresh fruit and vegetables to 50 families in need in the community. The produce was supplied by local firm Anglia Produce and given to families referred by Home-Start Harwich, an organisation that supports families in crisis. Pictured are corps officer Lieutenant Vic Moye and corps member Sandra Branch preparing to deliver boxes. – SM

THIS year The Salvation Army and its partners will begin to deliver additional specialist support to survivors of modern slavery through its extended Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract.

Adult survivors of modern slavery referred in England and Wales will now be entitled to receive support at all stages of their recovery. As with the existing specialist support service managed by the Army since 2011, all survivors will be entitled to a safe place to stay as well as a support worker to help them access the help they require.

The new contract will also enable survivors to keep in touch as they leave the main services, while specialist workers will help them secure support for finding a job, translation services, counselling and other therapies. This will help keep each survivor’s recovery on track as they move on with their lives.

The new contract runs for an initial five-year period.

Territorial Director of AntiTrafficking and Modern Slavery Major Kathy Betteridge said: ‘Staff and volunteers have made extraordinary efforts during the challenges of 2020 to keep survivors safe and supported. Together, we are excited to embark on this latest step with survivors, aiming to rebuild shattered lives and give people the means to move towards independent and brighter futures.’ – AR

Is your corps adapting to the coronavirus crisis through innovative ministry opportunities? Salvationist wants to hear from you.

Send your news to salvationist@salvationarmy. org.uk. Good quality pictures will be included.

Salvationist 23 January 2021

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NEWS

Prayer

CORPS WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY SATURDAY 23 JANUARY by the Rev Paul Goodliff (General Secretary, Churches Together in England) Gracious and loving God, whenever we find our unity in Christ, we experience the oil of the Spirit anointing our head and spreading through the body of Christ. But in these times of grief, bewilderment and uncertainty, that oil has been accompanied by the tears we shed, running down our cheeks. Enable us to share in our hopes and fears, our joys and sadness, so that we find our love for one another deepened, our encouragement of one another renewed and our compassion for all in need rekindled, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

A family from Cowdenbeath enjoy a socially distanced Christmas Messy Church

SUNDAY 24 JANUARY by Major David Evans (THQ) Lord Jesus, teach us how to love one another as Christ first loved us. As we represent different Christian expressions, keep us from doing anything out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. As we learn to work together as the body of Christ, enable us to have hearts of humility, placing others before ourselves. May our diversity lead others to see the love of God which motivates us. This we ask in the precious name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

KEY WORKER FOCUS

by Karen Mercer (New Addington) MONDAY 25 JANUARY – ‘ALL OF MY DAYS ARE HELD IN YOUR HANDS’ How many more days of the coronavirus pandemic do we have? Fear of the unknown can cause deep anxiety for many. Will we ever return to ‘normal’ or will we move to a new rhythm of daily life? Lord, bring blessing and peace to all working across the NHS this week. Help us to remember that you hold the future and to allow your Spirit to guide through these times.

FUNDRAISING NORTH WALSHAM Donations given for copies of The Story of the First Christmas and After by Peter Woods raised £1,000 for the Army’s Christmas Appeal. Peter and his wife, Myra, recently transferred to North Walsham and presented the cheque to corps officer Major Richard Durrant. – RD

MEETING

TUESDAY 26 JANUARY – ‘CRAFTED INTO YOUR PERFECT PLAN’ The NHS faces a difficult task in trying to catch up with patients who have missed treatments, operations and screening tests, while being prepared for Covid-19 admissions. Resources are stretched, patients feel worried and many are suffering as a result of not being able to access care in a timely manner. Pray for managers, politicians, those with influence on policy and people of faith in these positions, that they will bring wisdom, calmness and clarity to their decision-making.

WEDNESDAY 27 JANUARY – ‘TEACH ME, DEAR LORD, TO LIVE ALL OF MY LIFE THROUGH YOUR EYES’ Many people including healthcare workers are frightened of Covid-19. Personal protective equipment provides physical defence, but emotional protection is more of a challenge. Families have been kept away from their loved ones needing hospital care, and physical contact has been from behind screens or layers of protective clothing. Yet God knows each individual and their circumstances. Pray for those whose work is focused on meeting the needs of others, that they would see what God sees and be able to show kindness and compassion to all they meet.

THURSDAY 28 JANUARY – ‘I’M CAPTURED BY YOUR HOLY CALLING’ To serve others on the front line comes at a cost. The NHS is already shortstaffed and there are days when personnel continue to be severely stretched.

Some workers may feel they want to leave the NHS and the impact of this will be felt for a long time after the pandemic passes. Ignatius of Loyola prayed this: ‘Lord, teach me to be generous. Teach me to serve you as you deserve; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labour and not to ask for any reward except to know that I am doing your will.’

TUNBRIDGE WELLS The corps filmed the Nativity play in the hall grounds with narrators and cast ranging from the oldest members of the corps to the very young. As Mary held the baby Jesus and sang ‘O Holy Night’ the community looked on from nearby houses. The complete video is available on the corps YouTube channel. – RB 8

Salvationist 23 January 2021

FRIDAY 29 JANUARY – ‘LEAD ME, LORD, I PRAY’ We are all looking to be led out of the coronavirus pandemic and have hope in a brighter future. So many questions have been raised, and so many lessons have to be learnt, that at times it can feel overwhelming. Pray for all who wrestle with these bigger questions and consider how the NHS can deliver healthcare in new ways in the future. Lord, we place our trust in you.

O A PDF of the Prayer Matters booklet is also available to download from salvationarmy.org.uk/resources

Salvationist 5 December 2020

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ON MY BOOKSHELF

Books that challenge and inspire People have been revealing their bookshelves on video calls in recent months. Salvationist asked a number of people to tell us about the books on their bookshelf – this week, Dave Perkins (Staines)

PRACTICING THE WAY OF JESUS I BOUGHT this after hearing author Mark Scandrette speak at the National Youth Ministry Weekend a couple of years ago.

His talk had a big impact on me. He explored how church can sometimes be like a lecture hall: we sit in rows, listen to the teaching and perhaps even take notes, but then we leave and revert to life as normal during the week. He, however, had set up something called a Jesus Dojo. A ‘dojo’ is a martial arts studio where you put what is taught into action by following the instructor.

After reading the book we used it at our corps to start our own Jesus Dojo during the summer. Each week we studied what Jesus had to say about community and then came up with ‘experiments’ to put the teaching into practice in our everyday lives during the week. The group also threw a small street party for our neighbours next to the corps building. It was great to study and put into practice the way of Jesus together.

PAUL: A BIOGRAPHY TOM Wright’s mind-opening biography of the apostle Paul is highly recommended.

Wright is a well-known theologian and scholar and his storytelling brought Paul to life in the 21st century for me.

Wright’s ability to unlock the context of

Paul’s life and writing has given me a new perspective and an understanding of the Acts of the Apostles and Paul’s New Testament letters. It has helped answer many questions about how Saul the persecutor became Paul the apostle, about how following the resurrected Jesus was, for him, not an experience of conversion to a new religion but a case of being loyal to his Jewish tradition and about the unfolding of God’s action in the world.

The gospel is for the Jew and Gentile, and Paul gave his life to establish new multi-ethnic Jesus communities, despite the many hardships he had to endure.

THE MAN YOU’RE MADE TO BE MARTIN Saunders explores what it means to be a man in a world where there are mixed messages around masculinity. He challenges stereotypes and confronts issues such as identity relationships, money and online life.

He tackles these topics in an engaging way and with a great sense of humour.

If you’re a parent, guardian, youth leader or know any young men in their teens or early twenties, I would definitely recommend getting this into their hands. I wish it had been written 15 years earlier, when I was in my mid-teens.

HOW TO LISTEN TO JAZZ SINCE my early teens I’ve enjoyed listening to the traditional New Orleans jazz of Louis Armstrong as well as swing and big band music. With the exception of the Miles Davis album Kind of Blue, my liking of jazz didn’t go much further. At the beginning of the coronavirus lockdown in March 2020, I decided to widen my jazz horizons – and this book, by pianist and music historian Ted Gioia, has led to the expansion of my record collection, and to me enjoying the likes of Cannonball Adderley, Art Blakey and Duke Ellington to name a few.

One aspect of the book that I’ve found interesting is the history of jazz and how it has evolved and adapted through the years – from Dixieland in the early 1900s through the different scenes and styles found in Chicago, Kansas and New York, including swing, big band, bebop, hard bop, free jazz, jazz/rock fusion and more.

Pioneers have continued to drive jazz forward, influenced by geography, changing trends and advances in technology and instrumentation.

Despite these changes, common aspects of the genre can be found in each style. In fact, one of the most important parts of the jazz tradition is pioneering itself. This has led me to reflect on The Salvation Army, built on the pioneering tradition of the Founders and the movement of the Holy Spirit, adapting and evolving according to the different times and needs of our societies, while the gospel message remains central and firm. Perhaps for the Army, in a similar way to jazz, tradition can be found in pioneering new ways forward.

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VIEW POINT

The soldiership dilemma Captain Peter Hobbs asks whether soldiership is too exclusive

T

O be a rabbi’s disciple in a Jewish system you had to be the best of the best. For a Temple rabbi to invite you to follow them you would have to jump through a lot of hoops. When Jesus started his ministry, he changed the reality of disciple making: he shifted the requirement from moral motivation to himself as the motivation.

Jesus empowered people who didn’t fit the established Temple or disciple moulds. He connected with those whom Jewish society deemed unclean, who wouldn’t have been allowed to get anywhere near the Temple to worship God. Matthew, a tax collector, would not have made the cut because his profession and the port where he collected taxes were a disgrace to the Jews. But Jesus called Matthew, saying ‘follow me’ (Matthew 9:9).

‘Follow me’ is what a rabbi says to the best of the best. So, when Jesus called the worst of the worst to follow him, he sent a strong message to the religious establishment that the mission had shifted. It was now not only for the Jews but for everyone. This not only showed Matthew how special he was to God but, even more radical than that, showed that Matthew could be a respected missionary of the gospel and socially reconciled because of Jesus.

Jesus opened up the requirements for being a disciple. He simply saved and then sent, simplifying discipleship to what 10

Salvationist 23 January 2021

he originally intended. Why? I believe it was an intentional missional strategy.

He made this change because God’s approach to problem-solving is to involve all kinds of people.

Jesus recruited people who spoke the cultural language around them and did not let anything get in the way of his movement. He started a passionate and internally motivated Kingdom movement, got rid of any obstacles and empowered people to share the good news that the Trinity would restore everything. Jesus invited and recruited everyone, without discrimination, to be involved in his mission.

In a Salvation Army context, becoming a disciple is similar to becoming a soldier.

You have to take soldiership classes and promise to live a high and moral life where you’re not going to drink alcohol, smoke and so on. Here’s the problem: Jesus would make a great adherent.

Soldiership would not only exclude Jesus but also the majority of people within our society who don’t wish to make these lifestyle promises.

Many people would say, ‘What’s the problem? That’s why we have adherency, which caters for people who don’t want a “higher calling”.’ However, this creates a two-tier exclusiveness, which Jesus opposed, and allows for unbiblical power and segregation problems within community.

The adherents in my ministry setting

are equally passionate and active followers of Jesus, except they can’t become officers because they are not soldiers. They would argue that they are genuine soldiers because they have encountered Jesus, and his Spirit has transformed their lives to the point where they now partner in the mission of God. Is soldiership as it exists today similar to Temple discipleship in Jesus’ day? Is it a movement blocker? If so, how do we fix this?

The answer is to be like Jesus, remove the blockage and model a different reality.

Soldiership would then be redefined to include anyone who follows Jesus, acknowledges his presence in their life and is part of the Salvation Army family on mission together. The benefit of empowering all people in their soldiership journey with Jesus is that it would create an environment of equality without condemnation, simplifying soldiership to what Jesus originally intended. When soldiers are raised by being on mission with Jesus, we also see a radical increase in spiritually mature apostolic and prophetic leaders in The Salvation Army – the type of leaders who pioneer movements.

I’m aware this could be a controversial idea, but no more controversial than it was when Jesus introduced it to Judaism 2,000 years ago. Imagine existing volunteers, partners in the mission and those faithful adherent elders and leaders at our centres – who have never been able to be soldiers because of a few lifestyle choices – being seen as mainstream missionaries in The Salvation Army. Not only mainstream missionaries, but future leaders and officers.

If ever the world needed a movement of soldiers it is now. Jesus is the only requirement, and he is enough.

CAPTAIN HOBBS IS CORPS OFFICER AT BELLARINE PENINSULA, AUSTRALIA TERRITORY

• This article first appeared in Others magazine

VIEW POINT

Getting back to basics Major Merv Holland responds to the questions asked

by Captain Peter Hobbs

C

APTAIN Peter Hobbs raises some challenging observations and, for traditionalist and conservative Salvationists, controversial views on the relevance of soldiership today.

He contends that Jesus invited people to be involved in his mission without discrimination and that the idea of becoming a disciple in those days is similar to becoming a soldier in The Salvation Army today. He also says that soldiership would not only exclude Jesus but also the majority of people within our society who don’t wish to make lifestyle promises ‘to live a high and moral life where you’re not going to drink alcohol, smoke and so on’. This ‘higher calling’, he says, creates ‘a two-tier exclusiveness’.

Have we always had this two-tier exclusiveness? If not, what were the original conditions of membership at the inception of our Movement, and when and why did they evolve into what they are today?

In the beginning, there was a void that the established churches refused to fill.

In the mid-1850s, Catherine and William Booth sought to bring light and hope to the marginalised masses of England, declaring their intent to get people saved, then teach them to get others saved.

When they commenced their creative and controversial ministry there were no articles of faith, rules or regulations, covenants or conventions – just an overwhelming need for the ‘whosoever’ to be saved from sin and fed back into the churches.

Catherine’s first published article, printed in the Methodist New Connexion

Magazine issue of June 1855, articulated an uncomplicated missional intent: ‘The babe in Christ must be made to feel his individual, untransferable responsibility.

He must be taught that labour is the law of life, spiritual as well as natural, and that, to increase in wisdom and stature and in favour with God, he “must be about his Father’s business”.’

There was no definite creed or doctrinal framework to which the new converts were required to subscribe, until the East London Christian Revival Society published its Articles of Faith and Bond of Agreement, thought to be in 1866 or 1867.

The five-point bond was uncomplicated, requiring a declaration that one would: 1. Strive to ‘depart from all iniquity’ and be devoted to God 2. Commit to ‘the salvation of souls’ and strive to secure their conversion 3. Attend indoor and open-air meetings and make every effort to ‘bring souls to Christ’ 4. Cultivate ‘a spirit of brotherly affection’ and manifest this by seeking to meet each other’s ‘temporal and spiritual welfare’ 5. Contribute weekly offerings to assist the Society in its operations.

After this, membership became more and more complex. Conditions of Membership, documented in the First Constitution of The Christian Mission in 1870, reveal that ‘tickets of membership’ could be issued only to those who could demonstrate adherence to 18 rules, commencing with a confession of faith in the Son of God and extending to attendance at meetings, contributing ‘not less than one penny per week’, total

abstinence from alcohol, smoking and pornography, no involvement in any way in the liquor industry, a prohibition on selling or reading ‘the London Journal, Family Herald or any publication of similar character’, adherence to modest dress codes – and the list of conditions goes on.

The Christian Mission became The Salvation Army and Conditions of Membership became the Articles of War These have been revised and amended at least six times between then and now, incorporating updates of doctrine and membership commitments. They are now known as the Soldier’s Covenant.

Are you shocked to learn that Jesus could not have been a card-carrying member of The Christian Mission or a soldier of The Salvation Army? Jesus drank wine, manufactured wine in his first miracle and served wine at the Last Supper.

Seriously, though, the ‘good old Army’ is in decline – there is little evidence of builders (born before the mid-1940s) and baby boomers (born between the mid1940s and mid-1960s) pioneering new frontiers of mission and ministry, leading sinners to salvation and equipping them to disciple others.

Those regarded as the radical reformers aren’t focused on building The Salvation Army. They’re building the Kingdom of God – and they’re winning!

MAJOR HOLLAND IS A RETIRED OFFICER IN THE AUSTRALIA TERRITORY

• This article first appeared in Others magazine Salvationist 23 January 2021

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FEATURE I Charity shops

Melita Day-Lewis explores the history of Salvation Army charity shops with historians George Gosling and Georgina Brewis

S

HOPPING in charity shops is Ireland, some run independently by a bit like buying Marmite – corps but most coming under the people either love it or hate it!

Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd Those who hate it feel a kind of (SATCoL). This century-old heritage horror at owning pre-loved crockery is part of a rich source of Salvation or china or wearing second-hand Army archive material held at the clothing. Those who love it can’t International Heritage Centre (IHC). understand this aversion. After all, there are so many advantages – shoppers can buy originals, vintage treasures and even top fashion brands at discounted prices. They are also recycling goods, helping the environment and raising money for a good cause.

Whichever side of the divide you fall, charity shops are big business these days – they are on every high street, raising millions of pounds for charitable institutions.

The Salvation Army is part of this wonderful philanthropic tradition and has a long history of collecting and selling secondhand goods – to raise money for its social endeavours, to provide employment and volunteering opportunities, to offer goods at discounted prices for those in straitened circumstances and to build a bridge with the community SATCoL charity shop, Purley through their volunteers and customers.

In the 19th century, the Army George Gosling, a lecturer at the became one of the first organisations University of Wolverhampton, and to run a second-hand clothing shop Georgina Brewis, a senior lecturer at to provide people in poverty with University College London’s Institute affordable goods and to raise money of Education, have been using these for its work. Today The Salvation archives to inform their studies, Army has more than 380 charity writings and projects concerning the shops operating in the UK and history of charity shops.

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Salvationist 23 January 2021

George is interested in modern British history, particularly the role of charities and campaign groups in society and how they ‘work together to try to make the world a better place’. He is writing a book on charity history and is intrigued by what looks like a commercial endeavour on the surface but has a ‘charitable social logic going on underneath’.

His interest was first piqued when his wife began working in a charity shop: ‘I started to wonder why I’d never read a book on the history of charity shops and I realised it’s because there isn’t one. That’s why I started going to places like the IHC to piece this story together.’

Georgina is a historian of voluntary action.

‘I have this interest in the archives, records and material culture (objects) of charity, and recognise that in order to write the history of charity we need to be preserving those archives and records better,’ she explains.

‘This is done very well by some charities and not very well by others.

Many charities’ archives are a low priority, but The Salvation Army takes its own history and heritage seriously.’

George agrees that the Army is one of the better charities at keeping

Leeds elevator salvage store, 1908 records, partly because the archives are so accessible to the public and its archivists engage in their own research. At the IHC he found stories of the earliest examples of charity retail in The Salvation Army. As part of the Darkest England scheme there were hostels, known as ‘elevators’ (so named because they helped to lift people out of poverty), which provided accommodation, food and skills training, and created jobs. The sale of salvaged goods became a big part of that.

‘In the 1890s the War Cry y featured the Battersea elevator, including a drawing of a big pile of salvage that had been collected. The idea was that salvage would create jobs by sending people round the local neighbourhoods to collect anything they didn’t need that might be taken off their hands. It was gathered together, and people could come to the elevator and buy things cheaply.

This would allow the Army to create jobs, avoid waste, reuse products and sell them at affordable prices,’ George explains.

This developed into a more

sophisticated way of selling salvage.

By 1908 the elevator in Leeds had a dedicated room for the sale of collected goods, with an appointed salesperson. George believes this could have been a pioneer of charity shops selling second-hand goods.

Many corps have successfully operated their own charity shops for a number of years, meeting people’s needs and raising funds for corps work. SATCoL was set up in 1991 and opened its first charity shop two years later, following a commercial pattern that is broadly applied and instantly recognisable. The shop had its origins in a scheme started by Captain Terry Pattison in 1985. He was in charge of the Mountbatten Centre in Southampton, which accomodated older people and provided detoxification services.

Terry was inspired by a clothing collection initiative in Australia and believed that a similar scheme could raise funds for the Mountbatten Centre and provide work for its residents, and so the Mayflower Community Enterprise clothing bank was born. Clothes were sorted and

graded by Mountbatten Centre residents and sold to merchants where possible, with all profits put back into the centre.

The scheme was a huge success and evolved into one of the biggest clothing collection initiatives in the UK. SATCoL now operates roughly 8,000 donation banks where people can leave unwanted items. Good quality products are then sold to the public in charity shops and the money raised helps the Army fund its work throughout the UK and Ireland.

Fashion consultant Mary Portas coined the phrase ‘the kindness economy’ to refer to today’s new generation of shoppers who are choosing not to support businesses that do not prioritise people or the planet.

The Salvation Army has had this ethical value system at its heart ever since William Booth founded the Movement in 1865. History shows that its charity shops have been an effective aspect of mission and a Kingdom expression of a kindness economy for more than a century.

Salvationist 23 January 2021

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VIEW VI W POINT

by Ron Thomlinson with the Rev James Macfarlane

E

VEN though my Scottish mate, Jim, is nearly as old as ‘Macthuselah’, he had never eaten bubble and squeak until we discussed this article. An avid eater of salted porridge and a renowned haggis hunter, Highland Jim Zimmer-framed himself off to the supermarket, bought a microwave version of this culinary delight and awarded it three Macfarlane stars.

Today the word ‘bubble’ is not only associated with soap and fry-ups, but also with safety – most of us know what it is to be quarantined in a bubble.

Like so many others, I grew up inside a Salvation Army bubble: a safe and protective place. The world, even before the coronavirus pandemic, had to be kept at bay. The bubble would shield us.

The problem for me was the squeak in the bubble. From the very beginning the aim of living the perfect life, being squeaky clean, was held up as the goal for everyone to attain.

On page 22 of the Army’s Vocal Solos No 1 Erik Leidzén’s musical setting of Ida Russell’s words ‘The Perfect Life’ appears: ‘To live the perfect life!/ To walk from morn till even without spot;/ No stain to mark the trodden way,/ No ugliness to mar or blot.’

I continue to fail miserably in meeting those demands. Come on, let’s get real.

Even inside an Army bubble, being squeaky clean is a spiritual bridge too far for many of us. I constantly need forgiveness and freedom from feeling a spiritual failure. If I were in God’s shoes I would get fed up with me continually 14

Salvationist 23 January 2021

asking for absolution. So what do I do about it, Jim? ‘Ron, having introduced my jaded Scottish palate to a new sensation on my taste buds, I shall muster the best answer I can.

‘To try to be angelically squeaky clean in this life is impossible and will end in tears. Thomas Aquinas in his dispute with the Cathars (literally, the “pure ones”) declared: “They forgot that they were human!” The classic Reformation doctrine was articulated from the first by Luther. He defined the reality of the Christian experience in a Latin formula: simul justus et peccatorr (literally, “at the same time righteous and a sinner”). We are redeemed and forgiven, but still flawed and liable to err.

‘In The Call to Holiness by General Frederick Coutts, Major Margaret Allen is quoted expressing that same insight in a letter to “an early day Naval and Military Leaguer”, which Coutts calls “an outstanding example of Salvationist common sense”. She wrote: “God is not going to pluck out of your natural instincts which he has placed there for a lawful and useful purpose. I have heard men pray, as if to accomplish holiness, God would pick to pieces their physical being and take out from it all that forms the law of human attraction. What a poor sort of salvation that would be!”

The Christian life has to be lived in the full scope of human reality, with all its complex relationships.

‘When Jesus says we must forgive seventy times seven, he is not providing

us with an exercise in mental arithmetic; rather we see the inspiration for Annie Flint’s profound affirmation: “His love has no limits, his grace has no measure,/ His power no boundary known unto men” (SASB 30). That’s why God’s shoes and your shoes are a very different size. Such superabounding grace is not an excuse for licence, but an inexhaustible source of inspiration to lead us on in Christian endeavour, even when failure lands on us like a ton of bricks.

‘I know a man who, in his brokenness, sought out a Catholic priest. Though he himself was not a Catholic, the priest heard his confession. In deep contrition and silence the man waited for the priest to respond. To his amazement he heard the priest declare: “You are still a king like David, and a priest after the order of Melchizedek.”

‘That astonishing word of affirmation and absolution in the midst of failure opened him to the power and reality of “grace abounding”. Empowering absolution changes everything. It draws us towards wholeness in faith and hope.’

Thanks, Jim. As Bach states in his St Matthew Passion: ‘But your grace and favour/ Is much greater than the sins/ I find constantly in myself.’ I can live with that, in or out of any bubble.

RON IS A CHRISTIAN WRITER IN THE NETHERLANDS AND JIM LIVES IN RETIREMENT IN DUNOON. THEY BECAME FRIENDS IN 1966 WHILE CADETS AT DENMARK HILL

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Pleasing and praising God

N

In the first of three articles, Major Howard Webber explores the Creation and the Fall

I

N speaking of creation as ‘groaning’ (Romans 8:22), waiting ‘in eager expectation’ (v19) and being ‘subjected to frustration’ (v20), Paul was not the first Bible writer to attribute consciousness and emotion to creation. The psalmist spoke of the hills being ‘clothed with gladness’ (Psalm 65:12) and, describing the meadows covered with flocks and the valleys with corn, he said they ‘shout for joy and sing’ (v13). In Psalm 96:12 we read of the fields and everything in them being jubilant, with the trees of the forest singing with joy. Isaiah spoke of a future when mountains and hills would ‘burst into song’ and trees would ‘clap their hands’ (55:12).

Psalm 148 reveals the sun, moon and stars praising their creator, along with lightning, hail, snow, clouds, mountains, hills, trees, wild animals, cattle, small creatures and flying birds. In his wonderful hymn ‘All Creatures of Our God and King’ (SASB 2), Francis of Assisi took up this theme of all creation – not just living creatures, but flowers and fruits, wind and clouds, flowing water and fire – praising God. Figurative language it may well be, but it is a clear demonstration of how all creation is subject to its creator. Isn’t true worship being what God created us to be and doing what he desires us to do?

Our corporate and private acts of worship ought to be reflections of that.

However impressive those acts might appear, what does God make of them when they are not a reflection of lives lived?

Through the person of Christ Jesus, God created all things in Heaven and on the Earth, visible and invisible (see Colossians 1:16). Through Christ, God created the multitude of scientific laws such as those of physics, chemistry and biology, by which he holds everything

together. We live in a finely tuned universe. Few of us are aware of just how finely balanced it is or who keeps it that way.

It was all created for Christ, and he is or ought to be its master. When God created the universe, ‘it was very good’ (Genesis 1:31). It was all as he desired it to be, but one thing, one creature was different. While every other creature had no choice other than to behave as it was created to behave, God gave one special creature a choice. Humankind could either submit to whatever God desired or not. Sadly, Adam and Eve, our first

Adam and Eve did what they preferred rather than what God desired parents, chose not to. God only gave them one simple command, but they chose to disobey it. They did what they preferred rather than what he desired.

Disobedience is always indicative of a lack of faith. Neither Adam nor Eve believed God’s warning that they would die if they ate from ‘the tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ (Genesis 2:17) or that God had their best interests at heart. Their wrong choice spoilt everything, condemning humankind to sin’s bondage.

Supermarkets used to have displays made from huge stacks of products, such as tins of baked beans. Should someone unwisely attempt to remove a tin from the bottom, the result wouldn’t just be a gap in the display – the whole lot would come

tumbling down. The consequences of one small foolish act can be far greater than the perpetrator ever imagined or expected.

Our first parents’ foolishness and disobedience resulted in them losing their innocence, being banished from the Garden of Eden’s peace, provision and security and experiencing shame and separation from God. In addition, that tendency to sin – to have one’s own way, to be self-centred, to think one knows better than God – became part of our very nature. God made humankind ‘in his own image’ (Genesis 1:27) but, through disobedience, that image was damaged and distorted.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the consequences of sin stretched beyond the confines of humanity to the wider world. ‘Cursed is the ground because of you,’ God told Adam in Genesis 3:17.

One of the mysteries of life is that suffering as a result of sin is rarely ever confined to the one who committed it.

Adam and Eve brought death and decay upon themselves and upon the world in which they lived. Thorns and thistles would now cause problems they hadn’t experienced before, in what became a new and often painful experience: a struggle to survive and feed themselves.

MAJOR WEBBER LIVES IN RETIREMENT IN BOURNEMOUTH Next week…

‘Longing for relief’

Salvationist 23 January 2021

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BIBLE STUDY

Major Tim Johnson conside ers how Peter’ss eyes are opene ed to inclussion

ACTS 10:1–48

R

EADING our study passage, we see God opening Peter’s eyes to a vision of inclusion and openness. This chapter marks a pivotal moment in the life of the Church. Prior to this point it has been a messianic sect of the Jewish faith. In this chapter, as well as being the fulfilment of God’s word to his chosen people, the message of Jesus reaches beyond the barrier of Jewish identity and becomes a ‘light for revelation to the Gentiles’ (Luke 2:32).

The event in Acts 10 is the point at which the covenantal blessing of Abraham in Genesis 17 escapes from the one chosen nation to the many nations depicted in Revelation, where

Through the week with Salvationist – a devotional thought for each day

by Major Howard Webber

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Salvationist 23 January 2021

believers ‘from every nation, tribe, people and language’ (Revelation 7:9) are gathered before God. God’s key to unlocking that door is Peter.

It starts with the centurion Cornelius in verses 1 to 8. Being obedient to God is rarely about imagining the hardest thing possible and doing it; God often makes the next step available to us and we just need to make that stride forward. For Peter, Cornelius is that next step. In some senses, he is a soft landing as Peter leaps over the hurdle of his previously held ideas.

Cornelius is a God-fearer, a Gentile who worshipped God as the Jews did.

He is generous and is respected by his Jewish neighbours. God prepares the way for Peter by inspiring Cornelius to ask Peter to meet him. With this step in

place, God leaves Peter to decide whether to take it.

QUESTION O As you seek to obey Jesus more fully, is there a simple step you can take to improve your discipleship?

Verses 9 to 16 recount Peter’s trance.

Food is a defining marker of Jewish identity, going back to the roots of the covenant in the desert. With the statement, ‘Do not call impure what God has made clean’ (v15), God is redefining the way he relates to his people. It is no longer about what one eats nor the people to which one belongs. It takes a while for the message to penetrate Peter’s cultural preconceptions and, perhaps, his prejudices (see v34).

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

We have not known thee as we ought,/ Nor learned thy wisdom, grace and power;/ The things of Earth have filled our thought/ And trifles of the passing hour./ Lord, give us light thy truth to see/ And make us wise in knowing thee.

(SASB 630)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

(Proverbs 3:5)

Spirit of faith, come down,/ Reveal the things of God,/ And make to us the Godhead known,/ And witness with the blood./ ’Tis thine the blood to apply,/ And give us eyes to see/ Who did for every sinner die/ Hath surely died for me.

(SASB 520)

Prayer Father, sometimes we think we’ve got it right when we’ve got it wrong.

Despite Christ’s clear teaching, Peter didn’t realise how Jesus had come for all people. Lord, reveal the truth to us and give us the humility to accept correction.

QUESTION O Think about the special foods that help you celebrate God’s goodness and pray for anyone who shares them with you. Who else could you invite to share that meal?

Sometimes dreams and mental images can be God’s way of trying to tell us something important. God puts on three showings of Peter’s vision, marking it out as significant; it was a message that he didn’t want Peter to miss.

QUESTION O Do you have a dream, image or vision that you consider significant? If so, why not talk it through with a Christian friend or your corps officer?

While Peter is still pondering the significance of what he has witnessed, the Holy Spirit informs, reassures and commands him to go with the three men who were looking for him.

By setting off with these strangers, Peter is taking a daring next step – a step that was prepared in God’s plan.

Accompanied by other Jewish believers, Peter sets out to meet Cornelius. He asks why he has been sent for. Cornelius explains his angelic vision and concludes with the words: ‘Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us’ (v33).

Peter heard these words as the final confirmation of his visions, Cornelius’s angelic visitation and the prompting of the Holy Spirit on the rooftop. This is God’s doing and he, Peter, is the messenger of

the gospel. What Peter says next transports the gospel beyond the Jewish people. God, he says, ‘accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right’ (v35).

As Peter relates the gospel, the Holy Spirit comes upon the gathered Gentile crowd (see v44). In one breath, God moves from being the province of one nation to being available to the whole world.

From this moment, the Church is changed. It is not restricted to those of a Jewish faith background – it welcomes any who come in sincerity.

MAJOR JOHNSON IS CORPS OFFICER, OXFORD

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.’

(Acts 1:8)

Go forth and tell! God’s love embraces all;/ He will in grace respond to all who call:/ How shall they call if they have never heard/ The gracious invitation of his word?

(SASB 922)

‘Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’

(Matthew 28:19 and 20)

Strength for my weakness, Lord, impart;/ Sight for my blindness give to me;/ Faith for my doubtings, Lord, I would crave,/ That I may serve thee worthily.

(SASB 646)

Salvationist 23 January 2021

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REFL RE ECTI EC TION TI ON REFL REFLECTION LE CTION

Time for a rest?

Jim Burns reflects on Jesus’ promise to give us rest

I

DOUBT that many people managed to have a summer holiday last year. As a teenager growing up in Scotland, our family couldn’t always afford to go on vacation, so when anyone asked where we were going we would tell them ‘Hameldaeme’ (‘home will do me’).

The Salvation Army was stricter when I was a teenager, so if you didn’t go away from home for your holiday you were expected to be at Sunday meetings. One old-timer would point out to me that God never goes on holiday. It was only later I remembered that God took the day off after he made the world, although I don’t think he went to the seaside!

Unsurprisingly, none of the people mentioned in the Bible go on holiday, but there are plenty of instances where they are advised to take time to rest. Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28 Good News Bible). But rest from what? Perhaps for you it’s rest from health problems, financial concerns, worries about your job, fear of Covid-19 or distress caused by not being able to meet up with family or friends.

A well-known saying cautions us to ‘be careful what you wish for’. Previously some of us may have longed for time off work, even at 80 per cent pay, or dreamt of working from home, saving travelling time and money. Perhaps we simply wanted more time to ourselves and away 18

Salvationist 23 January 2021

from the usual routine. But then came the pandemic and we discovered that these wishes turned out not to be as good as we thought.

The Message paraphrase begins Matthew 11:28 this way: ‘Are you tired?

Worn out? Burned out on religion?’ If we’re honest, sometimes we want a break from religion too, even from the Army. Many of us are now having an enforced break from corps activities, but miss the opportunity to worship together.

So what sort of rest does Jesus offer?

As we read on in Matthew 11, Jesus says, ‘Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest. For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light’ (vv29 and 30 GNB).

At this point we might feel like saying to Jesus, ‘Whoa, back up. You had me at “rest”, but what’s all this about putting on your yoke and helping to carry your load? Don’t you think I’ve got enough of my own? Anyway, didn’t the writer to the Hebrews say, “We are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses”?

I thought I could be one of them.’

However, Christianity isn’t a spectator sport; we are all expected to play our part on the field, whatever our age or ability.

Everyone is needed, with no exceptions and no excuses.

Some may say they have no skills, but Ephesians 4:11 and 12 say otherwise:

‘It was he who “gave gifts to people”; he appointed some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and teachers. He did this to prepare all God’s people for the work of Christian service, in order to build up the body of Christ’ (GNB).

Don’t imply Jesus is a liar by saying that you have no abilities that can be of use in his service. He gave gifts to all of us. It may be visiting corps folk, making up food parcels or some behind-thescenes task, but they are all important.

Should our corps look and act differently in the future? We have lots of clever, intelligent and creative people in the Army at all levels. Pray about your thoughts and ideas, share and test them with others and put them forward.

And what can you do or should you do with your gifts? Pray and then offer your services. To paraphrase President John F Kennedy, ask not what God can do for you; ask what you can do for God. Or, in our case, ask what you can do for God through The Salvation Army. And we will discover the rest that he gives, because we won’t be doing it alone; we’ll be part of the body that is the corps and yoked to Jesus, who will be leading, guiding and supporting us.

JIM IS A SOLDIER AT DUNSTABLE

Poets’ corner God’s Love

Where Is...?

Your love is like a gentle breeze That brushes my cheek and travels with ease, Your love is like the open sea, So wide and deep and flowing free.

Where is love?

We look around for evidence, But our hearts ache with disappointment.

We see people who have lost The art of loving each other.

They struggle to love what God Has created for their enjoyment.

The culture of the world today Portrays love as something that is temporary, Conditional and conceited.

Why is love misunderstood by so many?

Your love is like the prettiest flower That brings such joy in a dismal hour, Your love is like the warm sun’s rays, It warms and brightens up my days.

Your love is like a crystal stream That sparkles with the sunshine’s gleam, Your love is like a warm embrace, Making our troubles fade without trace.

Your love is more than words can say, It’s there for us through every day, You love us with a love so true, That we can’t help but love you too.

AMANDA-JAYNE LANCELEY (BROMLEY TEMPLE)

Some Things in Life Will Never Change Are you thinking of our world during these dark days, How everything has changed in many ways?

Do you think how things will be eventually When our lives take on a new normality?

Will things be the same when we recover?

Have we changed? Please help me rediscover The faith in God I know is there inside me.

So help me Lord to use my eyes to see.

Some things in life will never change But God will still be with us Some things he may well rearrange Yet still his love is with us.

In brightest day Through darkest night, We never ever leave his sight.

Our God is always with us.

Has life been good to you through these long sad days?

Have you spoken to the Lord, your burdens shared?

Or have you changed the way you look at everything, Doubting whether God was there or if he cared?

Change can come so fast and catch us failing, We’ll find there’s nothing else that we can do.

God won’t change, he has much more to give us, So the only thing that God can change is you.

Dear God, help us in Christ To demonstrate your love, By our actions, our demeanour, To make a lasting impression on our world, On our churches, On our families.

Where is grace?

Look around, what do you see?

The world has forgotten the true meaning of grace!

In the boardroom, the school playground, In the community and sadly, in the Church.

Conversations lack the words of grace, And harmony is replaced by voices Of discord, malice and disapproval.

At times it feels the world is void of grace And we are bereft of its enormity.

Dear God, help us in Christ To demonstrate your grace, By our words, our actions, To make a lasting impression on our world, On our churches, On our families.

Where is forgiveness?

For many, forgiveness does not always Come easily and some just eschew it.

We are surrounded by people who struggle to forgive, Their hurt goes too deep, Their wounds too painful to mention.

Others want to forgive but wonder whether They can or not.

So many misconceptions and missed opportunities.

Forgiveness is such a beautiful act that it Stems the flow of resentment.

Some things in life will never change…

Dear God, help us in Christ To demonstrate your forgiveness, From our hearts and a courageous spirit, To make a lasting impression on society, On our churches, On our families.

MARK AYLING (EASTBOURNE CITADEL)

MAJOR STEPHEN NAYLOR (HULL ICEHOUSE) Salvationist 23 January 2021

19

REVIEW

Real issues made relevant War Cry Editor Major Andrew Stone reviews The Informant: A Contemporary Parable by John Adamson

I

DON’T think I have previously read a novel where the central character has died before the story has even begun.

But that’s the role of Dilys in The Informant, which is set in two countries and involves seemingly unconnected groups of characters we engage with and slowly get to know over 152 pages.

In a prologue the author explains that he hopes readers will be able to relate to the real-life issues his characters encounter and ‘discern a relevance to life as we live it today’.

He also explains that the book was partly inspired by ‘Vagabonds’, a modern Christian song that speaks of the way the Church should welcome anyone and everyone – regardless of who they are or what their past may have been.

There are certainly some vagabonds among the characters, as well as church leaders and other individuals whose murky pasts come to light as the story

progresses. This book would be an ideal read for someone with only limited experience of the Christian faith, as some of the conversations explain – in some depth – a number of basic Christian beliefs.

As well as providing an understanding of theology, this book contains a story that can’t easily be second-guessed; the author paces out the revealing of each character’s personality and history and how each individual connects with the others.

Some revelations are a surprise even to the characters – it appears that only Dilys knew all their secrets. For the benefit of the story, it’s as well she didn’t take those secrets to her grave.

O The Informant is available as a paperback from amazon.co.uk and waterstones.com priced £8.99 (plus postage and packing) or as a Kindle edition from Amazon priced £4

PREVIEW

Come and See: Learning from the Life of Peter

by Stephen Cottrell

20

Salvationist 23 January 2021

A

RCHBISHOP of York Stephen Cottrell’s popular study guide, first published as On This Rock, reaches its third edition.

Come and See tells the story of Peter, exploring how he became a disciple of Jesus and what it meant for his life. It relates this to the life of a disciple today.

The author explains: ‘When we look at the life of Peter – fisherman, disciple, leader of the Church – we find somebody who responded wholeheartedly to the call to “come and see” – to come and meet Jesus, come and follow him, come and find life being transformed. This book focuses on Peter, not because he is the best-known of Jesus’ friends, nor the most loyal, but because he shows us what being a disciple of Jesus is actually like. He takes a step of faith and then flounders, and needs the saving touch of God to continue becoming the person he was created to be.’

The book comprises four sections of seven chapters. Each chapter contains a Bible passage with commentary, a guide for applying the teaching to daily life and suggestions for prayer and reflection.

Designed for new Christians who want to grow in their faith, and for more experienced Christians who want to reset the compass of their discipleship, this is an ideal Lent book, but it can be used at any time of the year to encourage the habit of daily Bible reading and reflection.

Before his current appointment, the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell was the Bishop of Chelmsford. He is a wellknown writer and speaker on evangelism and spirituality. and See is available as a paperback from brfonline.org.uk priced £7.99 (plus postage and packing) or as a Kindle edition from amazon.co.uk priced £7.99

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

ARMY PEOPLE RETIRED OFFICERS Birthday congratulations O Major Georgina Atkinson (107 on 31 January) O Major Robert Boyd (80 on 2 February) O Major Jean Cawkwell (85 on 2 February) O Major Nancy Newnes (85 on 4 February) O Lieut-Colonel Ruth Williams (80 on 5 February) PROMOTED TO GLORY O Richie Wiggins, Prescot O Elsie Errington, Sunderland Monkwearmouth O Millie Powell, Merthyr Tydfil O Songster Mary Hunt, Gloucester, on 23 November O Rtd CS Pauline Humphries, Gosport, on 14 December O David Ritson, Cottenham, on 26 December O Brian Lewis, Fakenham, on 31 December O Rtd BM David Luckett, Oxford, on 6 January O B/Reservist Bill Scott, Rushden, on 7 January O CSM Elizabeth Harden, Margate, on 8 January O B/Reservist Terry Rogers, Clevedon, on 9 January O Major Wesley Dinsmore from The Poplars Care Centre, Maidstone, on 9 January O Major Doreen Sharp from Aberdeen Royal Infirmary on 12 January O Lieut-Colonel Janice Sapsford from Southend University Hospital on 12 January O Margaret Chambers, Ipswich Citadel, on 14 January BEREAVED O Marjorie Wiggins, Prescot, of her husband Richie Wiggins O John Powell, Kathryn Jones, both Merthyr Tydfil, and Marilyn Smith, Sunderland Millfield, of their mother Millie Powell O Major Ann Kidd of her brother William Stinson O Major Gwen Bowers of her sister Mabel Yon O Bandswoman/Songster Val Brand, Gloucester, and Bandsman Rob Hunt, Cirencester, of their mother Songster Mary Hunt 22

Salvationist 23 January 2021

Margaret Lewis, Fakenham, of her husband Brian Lewis, Graham Lewis and Philip Lewis of their father O Paula Luckett, Oxford, of her husband Rtd BM David Luckett, Captain Kate Donaldson, Uxbridge, and Marcus Luckett of their father O Nigel Harden, Ramsgate, of his wife CSM Elizabeth Harden, Claire Harden, Ramsgate, and Leah Thompson-Apps of their mother, Rtd BM David Miles, Ramsgate, of his sister O Major Keith Sharp of his wife Major Doreen Sharp O

TRIBUTES MAJOR JOAN LYONS JOAN was born in Australia. At the age of 10, she moved with her parents to Coventry, where she first had contact with the Army. She decided early in life to become an officer and joined the Shepherds session in 1953.

After commissioning Joan was appointed to St Cuthbert’s Home for Girls as house officer in 1954 and the Haven children’s home in London in 1956. In 1959 she transferred to the India West Territory, first to Bomding School then to Poona as divisional secretary, followed by Bombay Youth Hostel as matron, Ahmednagar School as superintendent and to the Navropur Boys’ Hostel.

In 1980 Joan returned to the British Territory to East Grinstead. Following some leave of absence, in 1985 she was appointed to Redruth from where she entered retirement six years later.

Joan’s devotion to the Lord was amazing. She lived and breathed constantly for her work and had a great influence on many lives. – LG OLIVER ALLEN, READING WEST OLIVER, known as Oly, was born in Reading in 1921.

He was a lifelong Salvationist and a talented musician, who played a variety of brass and novelty instruments. He served as a divisional bandmaster and was still playing in the band at Reading West

aged 99. He loved nothing better than playing the organ for a sing-song with family and friends.

Oly was a chartered builder and headed up the family building company.

He was also a retired justice of the peace for Berkshire, a former county councillor, a past president of Berks, Bucks and Oxon Building Confederation, and was appointed a Freeman of the City of London and Knight of Malta.

He was married to Phylis for just over 70 years before her passing in 2010.

He leaves behind four children, six grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and a great-great grandson. He is now safe in the arms of Jesus. – GT JOHN ASKEW, IPSWICH CITADEL BROUGHT up a keen Salvationist musician at Ipswich Citadel, John later moved to Woodbridge. As a member of an RAF band, he participated in the Queen’s coronation parade.

In 1968 he was appointed bandmaster at Woodbridge. He was keen that the band should take the gospel message to a wider community. This included a short tour of Holland in 1990. John also organised many successful corps events.

In 1998, at Buckingham Palace, he was appointed MBE by Her Majesty the Queen for services to the community.

John retired as bandmaster after 31 years and returned to Ipswich Citadel, where he organised corps holidays and outings. An outstanding percussionist, he was a member of the Anglia Fellowship Band for many years, and also enjoyed fellowship at the Adult School of Music.

Enthusiastic about everything he did, John used his talents living a life well spent serving the Lord. – DA

Please note that soldiers’ and adherent members’ tributes submitted for publication should be no longer than 150 words.

Good quality pictures will be included. Copy should be sent to salvationist@salvationarmy.org.uk.

ADVERTS MGS works professionally providing

O COUNSELLING O THERAPY O MEDIATION MGS works with relationships and other life experiences MGS is confidential, experienced and free Contact Major Jorgen Booth and the MGS team Tel 07711 148538 or email mgscounselling@yahoo.com (Based in Worthing – MGS works throughout the UK)

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ANSWERS TO BIBLE NAMES QUIZ (PAGE 24)

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE Issued by Secretary for Communications and young people who can access Lieut-Colonel Dean Pallant and correct full-time education. Religious staff are as of 3pm on 18 January explicitly included. Critical workers include those whose work is critical to the The Gold Task Force, chaired by the coronavirus or EU transition response territorial commander, has noted the and those who work in health and social grave situation facing all parts of the care and in other key sectors outlined in the guidance. Children with at least one territory as the new variant of Covid-19 parent or carer who is a critical worker is out of control. We must take extreme can go to school or college if required. care while also ensuring that life-saving and critical frontline work continues as VACCINATIONS much as possible.

The first phase priority groups include Providing pastoral and spiritual care to people aged 80 and over, those who live people is as important as providing food or work in care homes, and frontline and shelter, but physical contact needs health and social care workers. As the to be avoided whenever possible due to vaccine is rolled out, The Salvation Army the spread of the virus. Please continue is communicating with governments to to follow the government guidance in ensure staff members who are eligible for your area, while continuing to support a vaccination due to their occupational vulnerable people in your care and role are not forgotten, but neither do we looking out for each other. want to be vaccinated ahead of people at greater risk.

AROUND THE TERRITORY O England is in a national lockdown.

If corps are approached by a local Places of worship can remain open health provider or want to offer their site for private prayer and Covid-secure to host a vaccination centre, please gathered worship, although some local consult with the DHQ team. There are authorities have requested that certain logistics to overcome but using our sites in this way is another opportunity churches close.

O Northern Ireland is in a six-week to serve. lockdown, with places of worship open Please be alert to scam text messages, and numbers determined by risk cold calls and emails telling you that you assessment. are eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine. These O The Republic of Ireland is at Level 5, often include links to fake NHS websites which means only online worship is that ask for bank details, supposedly for allowed. verification purposes or to pay for having O Mainland Scotland is in a national the vaccine. All Covid-19 vaccines are lockdown at Level 4 until February, with free and are not available for private sale. places of worship closed except for weddings and funerals. The islands of WORKING FROM HOME Scotland are at Level 3 and gathered Government guidance is becoming more worship is allowed. stringent. We advise employees and O All of Wales is at the highest alert Level officers to leave home for work only 4, but places of worship are open within where it is unreasonable for you to do Covid guidelines. your job from home. If you cannot avoid O In the Isle of Man all non-essential leaving home, try to plan your journey to businesses are closed. No indoor or avoid crowds of people. Staff are strongly outdoor gatherings are permitted. discouraged from travelling to THQ, O Jersey remains in a circuit-break DHQs and service centres. lockdown.

O Guernsey has moved to Phase 5, PARENT AND TODDLER GROUPS which is a return to normal activity, Although exemptions have been with restrictions on public gatherings removed, The Salvation Army will only removed. In Alderney local lockdown agree risk assessments for groups that measures have been lifted. can demonstrate they are providing specific support that is over and above EDUCATION IN ENGLAND general well-being and can only be The government has updated the list of delivered in-person for up to 15 people. critical workers with vulnerable children

Salvationist 23 January 2021

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1. Jesus 2. Amos 3. Romans 4. Jude 5. Naomi 6. Methuselah 7. Abraham 8. Shiloh 9. Ham 10. Belshazzar 11. David 12. Samson 13. Satan 14. Serpent 15. Nimrod 16. Goliath 17. Nod 18. Enoch 19. Deuteronomy 20. Mark

21. Delilah 22. John 23. Judges 24. Jesse 25. Bathsheba 26. Gabriel 27. Titus 28. Zadok 29. Numbers 30. Cain 31. Asher 32. Solomon 33. Lot 34. Lazarus 35. Genesis 36. Rebecca 37. Simon 38. Esau 39. Michael 40. Revelation

BIBLE NAMES QUIZ Test your knowledge of people, places and books of the Bible with these questions and cryptic clues supplied by Chris Nichols and Garry Reed (Barnstaple) Brazilian Manchester City striker.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Emmerdale’s Woolpack licensee for 19 years.

Forget friends and countrymen, just lend me your ears.

Paul McCartney song written to comfort John Lennon’s son.

Ruth’s mother-in-law? No, I am wrong.

Eight bottles old man.

British troops commanded by General James Wolfe fought on these Canadian plains.

American Civil War battle, aka Pittsburg Landing.

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Dr Seuss wrote about green eggs. Which meat would complement this dish?

A feast for William Walton.

Seventeen-foot Michelangelo marble.

Masons upset by destruction of temple roof.

A very bad Santa.

Ancient brass instrument, predecessor of the ophicleide.

The ninth of Elgar’s ‘Enigma Variations’.

The heaviest beetle.

Say ‘yes’ while going to sleep.

Not Pharaoh’s rivers of blood, but Powell’s.

TS Eliot’s Jellicle cat.

Germany’s pre-euro currency.

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Tom Jones’s 1968 No 2 hit, echoing the story of Carmen.

Colloquial toilet.

Craig, Shirley and Motsi on Strictly Come Dancing.

32 33 34

Born on a Monday, Grundy.

A great deal for sale at the auction.

Wrote, ‘Give me your tired, your poor,/ Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free’.

Owens or James, athlete or outlaw?

35

An English rock band formed at Charterhouse School in 1967, with Peter Gabriel as lead singer.

36 37 38 39 40

1940 Hitchcock film, based on Daphne du Maurier novel.

Hardy’s Everdene in Far from the Madding Crowd.

Lovable Ambridge yokel (1953 –1988) – my old pal, my old beauty.

TikTok star Smith, Popish Plot Oates, tragic Andronicus.

Handel’s priestly coronation anthem.

72, 85, 143, 96, 23, 649.

Not able to punish naughty schoolboy?

s Cake-making former Beatle fiancée.

Penniless simpleton who encountered pastry cook.

Seen sitting in a children’s playground.

Patron saint of paratroopers and grocers – and Dumfries in Scotland.

An explanation at the end.

Answers on page 23