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Turning
Negatives Into Positives
by
Commissioner
Wesley Harris
IN THE sixty two
years of my service as an officer the Army has seen remarkable
advances in some third world countries.
But declines in some first world territories indicate
that the good seed sometimes struggles to survive in affluent
soil despite strenuous attempts to cultivate it.
Declining
numbers of seekers and soldiers may be put down to the fact
that we live in a largely uncommitted generation where
secularization is increasingly evident.
But whatever their cause our losses are a challenge for
they are not ‘just statistics’; they represent ‘never dying
souls’ and that means that even the smallest decline matters.
I remember
General Frederick Coutts speaking eloquently about ‘watching
the drip’ and pointing out that if in our home we have a burst
pipe and a rushing leak of water we call a plumber as a matter
of urgency but we may not be alarmed by a small but steady
drip of a tap which can, nevertheless, cause much waste if it
is allowed to persist.
We shouldn’t
waste our strength on internal blame games or spread
discouraging despair but we do need to challenge ourselves and
our comrades to search for ways and means of turning our
negatives into positives. If rigorous inspection is called for
there should be no flinching by leaders or led – anything that
will further the cause which is ours.
This is a battle we can’t afford to lose.
We mustn’t allow ourselves to be conditioned by failure
or let the world write our agenda. God is with us and we need
to be in step with His Spirit.
In some ways
conditions are a lot easier than when I began as an officer
but in other respects the challenges are greater.
Still, I confess to some ‘sanctified envy’ of those
newly commissioned as officers.
The past has been great but the future can be better
and I keep hearing of developments which cause me to tingle
with a longing to be in the fray.
There
is a future for
the Army to explore and we should relish it. The use of the
internet would have led William Booth to explore it ‘big time’
and the possibilities are immense. The late and great
Commissioner Catherine Bramwell-Booth agreed that modern means
of communication had enabled her to reach out to more people
after she was ninety than in all the years before!
In
Australia
“Mainly music” is a programme for parents and young children
which is attracting people to the Army in great numbers.
Myriad other forms of community service are also
bringing new people to us and the need now is to seize the
evangelical opportunities which are afforded.
A newly
commissioned officer is pioneering a movement under the title,
“Go for souls” and I would not be surprised if our Founder is
calling upon the saints in Heaven to ‘fire a volley’ and
wanting us to join in!
Young and old
have a part to play in the great Salvation war.
One of my heroes is Caleb who, old as he was, heard of
a hot spot in Canaan needing to be conquered and
volunteered to tackle it with the words, “Give me this
mountain” (Joshua 14.12).
That’s the spirit for us as well!
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