Protection

Just a quick thought;

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he
delivers them.
-- Psalm 34:7

God loves you and wants to take you under His wings like a mother hen.. strange mental picture in ways, but a good analogy.

Bless ya, hope the week is going well

Salvation

I've been thinking a bit recently about the true depth of salvation. We've looked into it a bit in an online study of Luke and it goes much deeper than what we generally just look at it to mean.

We traditionally in the 'church' we narrowly think of salvation in terms of eternal life, but back in Jesus day, we see Jesus saving people from all kinds of things. Things such as loss of sight, being outcast, sickness, demonic opression or possession and forgivness of sins to name a few.

Jesus came to give us life, and life to the full, not just for eternity but for here and now also. Is there anything you need saving from today? Jesus is good to help - try Him and see. He loves to the point of dying so He can live with you forever.

If you need saving from something like drugs, obsession, impure thoughts, gambling, depression, etc - take it to Jesus now, ask Him to help you and save you from it. Leave me a message or email me at mapleback_simon@hotmail.com if you are wanting this salvation and having trouble claiming it!

Live victoriously and free, in Jesus Name!

Bless ya

"God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that he is giving us. We don't have to rely on the world's guesses and opinions. We didn't learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we're passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way."

1 Corinthians 2:10b

Letter from the General - Family

Pastoral Letter Fifteen

Family

Dear Fellow Salvationists,

You are lifted to the Throne of Grace in prayer daily. Prayer is a recurring miracle that gives us direct access to our Maker and which bonds together those who trust in Jesus as their Saviour.

In my last Pastoral Letter (Letter Fourteen) I requested your prayers for the International Conference of Leaders. Now I record my deepest thanks to you for supporting this historic gathering in prayerful intercession. In the days leading up to the conference I received many written assurances of prayers and more have reached me since the gathering ended, making intercession for the ongoing impact of the deliberations. Those present certainly experienced a deep sense of being held and sustained by the prayers of many around the globe. We had a wonderful sense of unity right from the very beginning of our time together. Please note the ‘Spiritual Statement to the Army’ that has recently been issued on behalf of all who attended the conference. It is my hope that this Statement will be met with a tender and sensitive response by all who read and ponder it.

The Lord granted the International Conference of Leaders a true sense of being members together of the family of God.

The theme of this Pastoral Letter is Family.

Family is God’s idea. He has planned the created world in such a way that we thrive best when family life is strong, protected and promoted by those in government. Serious social research shows that children do best, for example in health and in education, when they are raised by two parents, one male and one female, who through marriage are publicly committed to one another for life.

Marriage and family are inevitably interlinked. Alternative models of family life can be found on every hand these days, some arising out of marital breakdown, others the result of a deliberate choice to bring a child into the world out of wedlock. Statistical evidence tells us that these children face an uphill struggle to do well compared with children born within the sacred bond of traditional marriage.

When family life is strong, a nation is strong. Stable families are a pre-requisite of a stable social order. Secure family life results in lower crime rates, in fewer people serving time in prison, and in improved mental and emotional health. Family lies at the very heart of a stable social order.

In turn, stable family life delivers for most of us reliable love and personal security. The reliable love of parents, experienced by the child, opens up that child to experiencing and knowing the ultimate reliable love – that of the Creator. Recently we celebrated the birth of our fifth grandchild, Amos Paul Clifton. We are thankful that he will be raised in a secure fam ily setting, giving him the best possible start in life and an opportunity to know and sense from his earliest days parental love modelled on the love of God.

Closely interwoven with strong family life are key areas of social policy that all governments should promote and protect. We need to pray for political leaders to be raised up who will have respect for life, who will work for decent housing for all, who will promote family-friendly practices in the workplace, and who will favour families and marriage in the shaping of taxation and other fiscal policies.

Families are the bedrock of our society, the setting within which we discover the essential human qualities of love, commitment, compassion and generosity.

Let us pray therefore that every family will be modelled on God’s creation plan. Let us pray that Christian families will know daily the grace of God as the key ingredient in living and growing together. We can also pray that those see king to undermine family life will be frustrated. We can pray that marriages will flourish and succeed even in the face of much modern pressure to the contrary.

We must pray too for much divine grace to attend those who presently find their marriages and their family life under strain. May they come through the storms stronger and more deeply committed to each precious relationship.

Finally, let us give thanks for the family of the Body of Christ, the family of believers within which we can also know reliable love and spiritual intimacy.

I commit you, yet again, to the perfect love of Christ.

Yours in Jesus,

Shaw Clifton
General

Holiness potential..

"If Holiness is possible anywhere for anyone at any time, it is possible anywhere for everyone at ALL times"

General Bramwall Booth

Red hot and Committed??

I was reading some of Catherine Booth's book 'Practical Religion' the other day and found an interesting paragraph I'd like to share with you. The passage is found within the chapter entitled 'Hot Saints'.

Catherine wrote;

"WHY does God like people to be hot in His service? For the same reason that we like people to be hot in ours. We have no confidence in half-and-half, fase and-loose friends; milk-warm adherents who in times of danger wait to see which way the wind blows before they commit themselves to our views or interests; sevants who will serve us while at the same time they can serve themselves but the moment our interests and theirs appear to clash will leave us to our fate. We may use the half-hearted as far as they serve our purpose, but we have no confidence in them, no heart-fellowship with them, no joy over them. We would rather they were hot or cold out-and-out friends or foes." p109

Have you ever heard the saying, 'treat others how you would like them to treat you', how would God, then in return, treat those outlined above? Does God see you as trustworthy? Have you earnt God's trust?

I want to be red hot and consistant so on that day when I meet Him face to face He will smile at me! [Can you imagine that day you stand before Jesus and not being able to look Him in the eyes.. your heart just sinks knowing what's in store for you - your choices this very minute shapes that moment]

Decide today whether you are fully committed or fully not - THER IS NO IN-BETWEEN!

Saved or doomed! In or out! For God or against Him, headed for Heaven or headed for Hell - totally your choice, but you already knew that!

Know where you stand, and don't waver!

'I would thou wert cold or hot'

Revelation 3:15

Power of an Officer

"When Officers show lack of power for aggressive work, I am convinced that their hearts are not deeply moved over the condition of sinners; and if the heart of an Officer is not moved over the condition of sinners, surely his convictions bind him but loosely to the great Christian doctrines which form the very soul of The Salvation Army."

From Mrs. Bramwell Booth's book titled 'Powers of Salvation Army Officers' p51

Is your heart moved by the condition of sinners? Yes! We need you!

Let's not give God anything less than our best.

The General's letter on Leaders

PASTORAL LETTER FOURTEEN

LEADERS

Dear Fellow Salvationists,

This Pastoral Letter comes to you with my warmest greetings in the Lord Jesus Christ and with my prayers for each of you. The Lord is using the Army in wonderful ways. We seek to be faithful to the divine impulse to go out into the world representing Jesus Christ to all we meet. My constant prayer for you is that God will use you, just as he uses all who are faithful to him regardless of their denominational affiliation. My Fellow Salvationists, you are key players in a mighty Christian host of believers scattered across the globe. I hold you all before the Lord in prayer as I write to you. God has a part for you to play in his great plan of salvation.

The theme of this letter is Leadership.

There is a deep and true sense in which all Christians are leaders. Often we use the word 'leader' to mean a person in high position or with authority over others. This is a legitimate use of the word, but for now let me suggest that we can use it with a wider, more inclusive, meaning.

You are a leader just where God has placed you. You can influence other lives, leading people to consider the things of Christ. You can lead others into the realisation there is more to life than selfishness or the pursuit of pleasure. You can be the sanctified leader when someone suggests that you engage with them in some doubtful activity. You can lead when others do not sense someone's hurt, or another’s need. You can take the lead when others stand by idly or are in confusion as to the way forward in a time of crisis.

To be a leader like this does not require a special rank or position, or any kind of formal authorisation. Each believer in Jesus is called to be a leader like this. All Christians are called to be leaders.

The very fact that we are known to be in the Army can sometimes make other people have expectations of us that mean we will often need to show initiative and leadership more than others. Our uniforms can result in expectations like this. There is a deep sense in which the wearing of Salvation Army uniform says to others that the wearer is ready to take responsibility in the unexpected moment, to take the lead in the unlikely situation.

In fact, there is a sense in which we are an Army of leaders. We each have a leadership function to carry out. Let us not minimise this or shrink from it out of shyness or fear. The Lord who calls us is able to accomplish through us everything he wills and wishes. The Holy Spirit is our guide and our helper.

Without diminishing in any way this 'leadership' role of all believers, let me also mention those who hold heavy leadership burdens in the Army because of their rank or appointment as officers. On Tuesday, 7 July 2009 London will host a gathering of the Army's most senior officers. An International Conference of Leaders like this takes place every few years. I seek your prayers for those who will gather with me. They are spiritual leaders like you, in the deep sense I have tried to outline above, but they are also leaders in the organisational sense in terms of the senior responsibilities they carry within the Army.

We shall number about 140 and will be together for seven days. Let me mention the two most important things we will do in that week: we will pray together, especially for you and your fellow Salvationists, and we will study the Scriptures together, waiting upon God for his divine direction and impulse.

We will also take a warm-hearted but hard-headed look at the state of the world, at the readiness of the Army in 118 countries to engage with the modern world, and at the need to see far into the future to discern God's way forward for his Salvation Army.

Please, please pray about this gathering. Let me give you the dates again: 7 – 13 July 2009. Perhaps you can enter these dates into your prayer diary or into your devotional schedule so that you can influence the deliberations through prayer. That would be wonderful! Perhaps you could covenant with the Lord to hold a particular participant, perhaps your own leader, before the Lord each day of the conference. What a difference you could make in that way!

God bless you in your own local leadership, both in your community and in your corps. Every soldier is a leader for God and the gospel. I pray that you will be used to lead others into faith in Jesus as their Saviour. I pray that you will be used to lead others eventually to their eternal reward when we shall see Jesus in Heaven. What a day that will be!

I commend you to the perfect love of Christ.

I pray for you daily.

Sincerely in Jesus,


Shaw Clifton
General