The Salvation Army is shake, shake, shaking...

There's a significant, seismic shift happening in The Salvation Army in these days. One may suggest that's true across the church more broadly, but I'll allow others to witness to that. 

I've heard some describe it as a 'shaking' of the church. Others have said, it's the start of a new reformation. Someone told me recently, "I think we're on the brink of an awakening". 

It's near impossible to tell you what it's all going to look like 20 years from now. What will The Salvation Army look like in 10 years? God only knows. I don't even know what the world is going to look like in 12 months! 

The shaking is the only word I can think of, to describe what God seems to be doing. Every little thing, God is shaking it. Does it matter? Is it about the Kingdom of God? Is it bringing light into the world? Is it a man-made construct that holds people back in religious institutionalism?

Old ways of doing things: Shake, shake, shake.

A formal uniform in a post-militaristic society: Shake, shake, shake.

A Sunday gathering that expects the unsaved to come to them: Shake, shake, shake.

A Bible study that has shut the door to people that aren't like them: Shake, shake, shake.

Fail to treat everyone the way God would have us: Shake, shake, shake.

Music that is old and stale that expresses nothing new to an inquisitive world: Shake, shake, shake.

All that matters is your stats: Shake, shake, shake.

A form of Christianity that celebrates conformity and religious duty: Shake, shake, shake.

A Christian who can't worship Jesus, unless the minister wears a tie: Shake, shake, shake.

God must think anything is permissible: Shake, shake, shake.

Any form of evangelism that doesn't look at holistic salvation of an individual: Shake, shake, shake.

Maybe God's ok with sin? Shake, shake, shake.

You don't have your hair up when you preach: Shake, shake, shake.

Now, I'm not trying to stir the pot (even though I probably offended many in the last few paragraphs). I think you can blame God for the shaking. See, I'm actually quite afraid. Scared even. A little anxious. Even at the age of 39, I hold dear to many things. I already have a few decades of Salvation Army history under my belt. I have precious memories. I have rich stories of the Spirit of God working in different Salvation Army settings. 

But despite that, God is shaking things. Some of the methods might stick and be around in a generation or two, but I sense the shaking that God is doing right now, is causing some ways of thinking and doing to become irrelevant and superseded by the new thing God is wanting to do.   

So, if you've come this far with me, you may agree that the holy discontent among Salvationists is at an all-time high. We are discontent. And that's not because of some leader, or even some bureaucratic process that frustrates us. It's because we aren't who we're meant to be (yet). And we're trying to discover it. 

God is helping us along by shaking the very foundations of our movement. The foundations that became somewhat set in stone some years after William and Catherine went to be with the Lord. 

God is not finished with The Salvation Army. God is refashioning us. God is remolding us; reshaping us. And while we celebrate all that God has done through many a faithful believer in years gone by, (There is much gratitude for all their work), we know God is up to something.

The core belief we have is that God is love. So we trust, what Christ has in store. We trust, through faith, that the shaking is not just for our benefit, but for the salvation of the world.  

We must allow God to make new wine in new wineskins. The problem is, we're trying new things and putting it back into old wineskins. We try to squeeze innovative ideas for the Kingdom, into the frameworks that we created decades ago. Take a new idea, birthed by the Spirit of God, and allow it to ferment and exist within a new way of operating. A new framework. A new, God-inspired way of working. Don't put new wine into an old wineskin. 

There's a detangling happening. Some of us, are navigating our way through change, and learning to detangle ourselves from the expectations of man, and learning to live and serve for an audience of one. No power struggles. No unrealistic expectations upon the shoulders. No backstabbing other leaders. No putting down another colleague. Just a raw, authentic work of God, that is calling us back to the boundless salvation found in Jesus Christ. 

I'm learning to trust the Lord in these days. I'm learning to have faith in what he's doing. I'm choosing to not be afraid. The words in Psalm 46:1-2 sum up some of my thoughts:

"God, you're such a safe and powerful place to find refuge! You're a proven help in time of trouble ~ more than enough and always available whenever I need you.

So we will never fear. Even if every structure of support were to crumble away. We will not fear even when the earth quakes and shakes, moving mountains and casting them into the sea.

For the raging roar of stormy winds and crashing waves cannot erode our faith in you." (The Passion Translation)

The Salvation Army is shake, shake, shaking... Will you embrace what the Spirit is doing? Will you be courageous enough to embrace an awakening within the people of God, that will absolutely transform the world around us, with the incredible mercy and love of Jesus?  

[All views are my own and don't necessarily represent any official position of The Salvation Army]

We Need Another Pentecost

O for a passionate passion for souls,
O for a pity that yearns!
O for the love that loves unto death,
O for the fire that burns!
O for the pure prayer-power that prevails,
That pours itself out for the lost!
Victorious prayer in the Conqueror's Name,
O for a PENTECOST!

- Amy Wilson Carmichael

We need another Pentecost. 

Not because we need the Holy Spirit to come upon the earth again, and not because William Booth sung about it over 100 years ago. 

We need another move of the Spirit in our day. We need it. 

Yes, theologically speaking, the Spirit hasn't left. I get that. I understand your point. But it's like a large bottle of water sitting on the table in a restaurant. The water may well be there, but only those who are drinking the water experience the benefits of that water.

The Spirit of Jesus is among us. We can sense the Spirit in moments of worship and response. We hear the gentle whisper when we tune our hearts to the Lord. 

But, we need another Pentecost. 

Not because we don't have the Spirit here with us already. Not because we don't occasionally sense the prodding of God upon our lives.

We need another Pentecost. 

We need it. Desperately.

The Fire Upon Ever Nation

Have a quick look at the first time the fire of God came upon the disciples after the ascension of Christ. We read in Acts chapter 2, verse 8, that a crowd came together in bewilderment, because those who were gathered each heard the message of Jesus spoken in their own native tongue. 

The fire of God came upon the people gathered and all of a sudden every nationality could understand there was hope found in Jesus Christ!

We pray for the fire of God upon every nation. Every people group. Every tribe.

The Fire Upon Ever Believer

As you make your way through Acts chapter 2, you read of a man, named Peter, who preached a powerful message, where over 5,000 people chose to follow Jesus. This is the same man, who, when in the temple courts before the crucifixion of Jesus, couldn't even stand up for Jesus. 

He was suddenly bold. In Acts chapter 4, you read of Peter standing in front of the Sanhedrin (71 members, including the High Priest), and he yells out, 'It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.' Boldness came upon him. 

What's the difference: before the cross and after the cross?

There was a spiritual shift in Peter's life. A switch was turned on. A pilot light was activated. It's the fire of God. It's what early Salvationists called being baptized in the Holy Ghost. 

We pray for the presence and power of the Holy Spirit to be upon every believer.

A Holy Discontent   

Maybe someone reading this is sensing a similar thing to me. You're fed up with playing church and rearranging chairs and giving the walls the occasional lick of paint. If you're like me, you love the church. It's God's primary vehicle for transforming the world. But, you have a holy discontent. 

There is a mighty move of God stirring up the faithful. You can hear the wind a-blowin'. You can feel the coals a-burnin'. A big move of God is coming. 

Not everyone will be ready for it. Some may even miss it. They'll be plodding along, trying to photocopy song sheets, and running their closed-off bible studies. 

Though meanwhile a new and powerful move of the Spirit will breathe life afresh into the weary bones of tired ecclesiastical gatherings. 

The move is coming. Whether you recognise it, validate it, or embrace it. Another Pentecost is coming. The revolution now begins. 

More leaders will step up and step forward.

Believers will embrace the calling of God upon their lives.

New people of all generations and every nation will turn to Christ.

Righteousness will be hip again.

The depth of love that we have for each other will grow.  

Vibrant new expressions of ministry will multiply.

This Pentecostal fire, (while scary for some and misunderstood by others), will embolden what is already happening. God is at work, and this fire will further empower the church in these days.

Salvation to every nation! Salvation to every generation! 

*****

If you are passionate about starting a new expression of ministry, I want to encourage you and resource you. Please let me know in the comments and we will pray for you!