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CAPTAINS' BLOG
February 28, 2003.
February 27, 2003.
February 26, 2003.
February 24, 2003. Greetings in Jesus’ name, friends.
My buddy, John, last year,
suggested that we knit into this new thing we’ve started in
Vancouver some sense of counter-culture. He eloquently went on
about how the Gospel is counter-cultural and if we aren’t, then
we are misrepresenting the Gospel and the Object of the Gospel.
He suggested that we call ourselves terrorists. This fits, in that we ARE starting a cell-based system, just like some notorious Arabs. So, several months later, not in on my conversation with John, my wife Danielle, out of the blue, suggested we adopt and adapt the whole terrorist ethos for the 614 War we are fighting. Hmm.
Of course, the war we fight is
different that the one the world fights. And so the terror we generate is different than their terror. Ours is a holy terror. It’s a biblical thing. I know the terror of the Lord. Paul said, in 2 Corinthians 5:11, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.” Holy Terror is big stuff. Listen to what is says of Moses: “And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, In all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel” (Deuteronomy 34:10-12). And this holy terror has great effect: “And they journeyed; and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him. And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him” (Genesis 35:5-7). Holy Terror. An intriguing aspect of the war. I want to have it in my arsenal. Time will tell the part it plays in our warfare. Posted by Stephen Court, February 24, 2003.
February 23, 2003 Greetings in Jesus’ name, friends. There are some things you cannot do in heaven. What are they? I ask that questions when I go to different places and I hear things like, sin, fear, cry, whine, die, evangelize. Those are all good answers. I’ve learned, not too long ago, of something else you cannot do in heaven. Choose to worship. You see, the angels, the martyrs and other saints, the 24 elders and the living beings are up there worshipping all the time. They can’t really choose to worship because God’s glory is so intense in heaven you are kind of forced to do it (I imagine). But down here it is a different story. There are so many distractions. I mean, you’ve got the choice of songs, the style of music, the quality of ‘performance’ (and I mean that in the best Nehemiah worship sense), the lighting, the heat, the clarity of the words, the speed of the power point guy, the voice of the person behind you, the space or lack thereof on either side of you, your energy level, your sin status, your incorrect view of God, your lack of intimacy with Him, the time and its proximity to the kick-off of the big game, etc. Whew! And that doesn’t even begin to take into account the special little distractions that demons specialize in to throw you off. To actually choose to worship God full-out down here- wow, that is something worth noting. I expect that it gets even God on the edge of His throne peaking down to see what’s up. When I cam to this revelation I decided that I am going to choose to worship full-out despite all of the distractions. I am going to do something even the angels cannot do in heaven. I am going to get up to heaven with no regrets based on pathetic worship based on pathetic excuses. How about you? Posted by Stephen Court, February 23, 2003.
February 22, 2003. Greetings in Jesus’ name, friends. ‘Revival’ is a term of questionable value to us these days. It means different things to different people. Like ‘baptism of the Spirit’ it is difficult to use efficaciously in conversation today (some would say that ‘efficaciously’ is difficult to use efficaciously in conversation today!). Anyway, ‘revival’ means dramatically different things to different people. I have buddies who organize and throw revivals a couple of times a year. Along this historic vein I have a book on my shelf by evangelist R.A.Torrey called HOW TO PROMOTE AND CONDUCT A SUCCESSFUL REVIVAL. At the other end of the spectrum are those scandalized by the affront to God’s sovereignty caused by the first group of people, who insist that we cannot do anything to bring about revival, that it is entirely up to God. This school holds the sway in much of the Body of Christ today. As if often the case I am playing hooky from both schools. I side with one of my heroes, Finney, who argued that just as you follow certain laws to get a crop of wheat, so you can follow several rules to get a revival. To get a crop of wheat you have to break up the fallow ground, plant, water, weed, and harvest. For revival you need to break up the fallow ground, plant, water, weed, and harvest. If we are His people, if we are called by His name, if we humble ourselves, if we pray, if we seek His face, and if we turn from our wicked ways, He WILL hear from heaven, He WILL hear our prayers, and He WILL heal our land. If we follow the divine rules He WILL give revival. The problem is that the rules are so hard. Who wants to humble themselves? I’ve seen revival in Toronto and in Pensacola. The latter is the more classic version of it because of the intense repentance active. I saw some public humbling begin last week at some meetings. For some reason it didn’t continue. We ran out of time. Hmm I want revival. But that isn’t the end. The end is world conquest. Posted by Stephen Court, February 22, 2003.
February 21, 2003. Greetings in Jesus’ name, friends. I was in some meetings last week and experienced, for the first time that I recall, a spirit of intercession.
Now, I intercede for people.
But I’m not really gifted at it. I am more of a lunchbox type
of intercessor than a really strategic level intercessor. I
made this promise to God years ago that I’d not be reckless in
my evangelism but would remember daily in prayer everyone that
I’d witnessed to or evangelized. It follows a few of Paul’s
remarks to readers of his letters. This was different. There was some courageous vulnerability in this meeting that exposed old wounds. I felt led to come alongside and then BOOM- before you know it I think I became a mouthpiece for God to express His emotions about the whole situation. Very strange. Quite exhilarating. But I’m still glad I don’t get the 3 am alarms. Posted by Stephen Court, February 21, 2003.
February 16, 2003 Greetings in Jesus’ name, friends. Our Chief Secretary, Colonel Robert Redhead (yes, for all you blog-reading, non-salvo brass band aficionados, this is the great composer), come to town this week. His main question to officers here was this: What does God have in mind for The Salvation Army? That’s a nice question, and certainly a potentially more profitable theme for dinner discussion than others that often crop up. I am sure that a myriad of ideas flew across the room. And not that God is double-minded or anything, but I suspect that He probably was in favour of much of what was suggested. But, as I heard Martin Sheen say on Wednesday night on the West Wing (yes, Shaw Cable gave me free cable for a month, trying to entice me to addiction), quoting Frederick the Great speaking to his generals, “To defend everything, is to defend nothing.” It turns out that Aaron Sorkin must read the news because the same quote has been bandied about concerning the USA’s homeland security plan. The correct quote, apparently, is: Little minds try to defend everything at once, but sensible people look at the main point only; they parry the worst blows and stand a little hurt if thereby they avoid a greater one. If you try to hold everything, you hold nothing. Now God hasn’t a little mind. In fact, He’s got a very BIG mind. Similarly Frederick, to be in favour of everything, is to favour of nothing. Or, to think about everything is to focus on nothing. So, let’s assume that God has a few key things on His mind for The Salvation Army. They say that God doesn’t change. If that is true, then He’s been thinking about these things for a long time, since the foundation of the world, actually. I believe that they are holiness and mission. Commissioner Shaw Clifton puts it nicely when he teases the ‘social wingers’ in our ranks that the Army has dual purposes. Most figure Clifton will point to salvation and social service in the revisionist history of ‘saved to serve’ (we know that the Ss stand for ‘saved to save’ as does our new line of battle gear called S2S). Instead he identifies our dual purposes as salvation and holiness. I think that God has these things on His mind. And, if we have the mind of Christ (a corporate mystery?) they will be on our minds and hearts and agendas, too. I believe that God is all about us experiencing holiness in the juiciest, most eloquent style of Wesley, Finney, and Brengle. I think that He has an even bigger holiness than that planned as we gear it up into mission. You see, I believe that the holiness we fight in, like some good OT contrarian realities, will actually infect what is touches wherever we battle. Then I believe God is always on about mission, the salvation of our name. I don’t know that He’s settling with one saved here, and another saved there, as much as these things joyfully fill up the party schedule in heaven. I don’t even buy that He’s ready to accept a holistic salvation that deals with the mind and emotions and body of a person. I think that when God meditates on salvation with regard to The Salvation Army, He imagines a BIG salvation, one that encompasses the whole wide world. That is the mission part of it. Not just getting saved, keeping saved, and getting someone else saved (with a nod to the Founder), but going a step further to see everyone saved. I think that this is what God has got in mind for The Salvation Army. Are you up for it? Posted by Stephen Court, February 16, 2003.
February 15, 2003. Greetings in Jesus’ name, friends. Here’s a little thing I am working on these days. Proverbs 8:15 With (Wisdom), leaders rule (MESSAGE). We don’t like to talk about leaders ruling. We prefer leaders facilitating, resourcing, visioning, guiding, managing, piloting, co-opting, consulting, partnering, and a myriad of other ‘ings’. But, in the best, ‘the buck stops here’ mentality, leaders rule. The wise man instructs that leaders rule or reign. Originally the wise man was saying that with wisdom the leader ascends the throne, with wisdom the leader is inducted into leadership, with wisdom, the leader takes counsel (Strong’s 4427 malak). He continued, saying that the leader makes just laws. It literally means that a leader ‘hacks’! But hack means that he engraves, enacting laws by cutting them into stone. This makes the leader one who appoints, decrees, governs, and sets (Strong’s 2710 chaqaq). With wisdom he hacks the right. The word translated ‘just’ is a rich word with connotations of equity and prosperity (Strong’s 6664 tsedeq). With wisdom, a leader can bring equity and prosperity. Such a leader was Hezekiah. In the book of Isaiah, chapter 32:1-8, Isaiah offers a prophecy that can also be read as a panegyric for King Hezekiah. It begins in the manner of the proverb. See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice. Each man will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land. Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. The mind of the rash will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear. No longer will the fool be called noble nor the scoundrel be highly respected. For the fool speaks folly, his mind is busy with evil: He practices ungodliness and spreads error concerning the LORD; the hungry he leaves empty and from the thirsty he withholds water. The scoundrel's methods are wicked, he makes up evil schemes to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just. But the noble man makes noble plans, and by noble deeds he stands. (NIV) When a leader rules justly, each person under her leadership becomes a shelter. It’s not just the leader who acts as shelter to the people. The people themselves become shelter. But the people also become streams of water in the desert- they bring refreshing as their leader has brought refreshment to them. The leader multiplies herself in her people. Communication improves. Closed eyes see; ears that used to only hear, now listen; difficulty in comprehension and expression dissipates. There is a better appreciation of reality. Fools aren’t considered nobles, and scoundrels aren’t highly respected. Noble people make noble plans. But it is with Wisdom that leaders rule. Solomon is remembered for asking for wisdom when God offered to give him anything as he was succeeding his father as King of Israel (2 Chronicles 1:7-12). What he actually asked for was a hearing heart. He wanted to hear God’s guidance so that he could lead effectively. Without it, Solomon considered himself totally ill prepared to lead the people of God. “Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?" (2 Chronicles 1:10 NIV). Wisdom, in Proverbs, is often personified. Later in the Proverbs 8, Wisdom is clearly Jesus, active in creation as the Father crafts the universe. The Hebrew actually has Jesus frolicking or sporting while Abba fashions ‘the whole world” (8:31). This Wisdom is not serious, heavy-browed stuff. Jesus sports through creation (D. Guthrie and J.A. Motyer. 1991 THE NEW BIBLE COMMENTARY. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans). So, Jesus is Wisdom. And with Wisdom, leaders rule. With Jesus, leaders rule justly, equitably, and prosperously. It doesn’t quite follow that without Jesus, leaders act illegitimately. However, Jesus-less leaders who do act inequitably and unjustly are acting consistently. Posted by Stephen Court, February 15, 2003.
Feb. 15th, 2003 Armour of God Last week in SWAT (spiritual worship and training) hosted by the Cariboo Hill Temple and 614 Vancouver, the stellar Michael Collins was preaching on the Armour of God. Sure to be a difficult topic because of it’s familiarity. But sure to form as a man of God, Michael listened for God to give him some fresh bread from the Living Word and indeed He did. Michael raised this issue: do you actually ‘put on the armour’ from the ‘outside’? Or do you put on the armour from the inside? Interesting idea. Can you grow your armour? Perhaps you actually can increase the size of the breastplate as you grow into God’s Righteousness? Or can you build a bigger shield by walking in faith? Then it got me thinking about Adam and Eve. Remember when God came looking for them after the big FALL? He was calling out to them but they were hiding. Why were they hiding? They were naked, that’s why. ‘But who told you that you are naked?’ replied God. Now at first glance it would seem like Adam and Eve were naked all of the time and are simply experiencing shame for it because of the immediate effects of sin. But I was thinking maybe there’s more to it. After all, Eden was a place of God’s dwelling and presence. It’s the place that we are longing for and will experience again in fullness once we hit the other side of the sun – it’s the place where God’s Glory (his presence, his essence, his ‘self’) dwelt. If that is so, perhaps the nakedness was new. Perhaps before sin they didn’t need clothes because they were ‘clothed in Christ’ – maybe His Glory ‘covered’ them and when they sinned they ‘exchanged the glory for nakedness’. That makes the picture in Revelation of standing before God dressed in a white robe – having been washed in the blood of the lamb look pretty sweet. Compared to a bunch of leaves strung together – I’m in. Back to swimming not in nakedness, unashamed but in Glory – BRING IT ON! Posted by Danielle Strickland, February 15, 2003.
Feb. 14th, 2003 Ethical Dilemma So for you ‘army’ types out there. The army has a big fat apologetic attitude about using Red Shield (donations from the public) funds for our ‘spiritual work’. This baffles me. First of all, people say it’s an ethical issue. The people don’t ‘know’ that they are supporting ‘spiritual’ work – they think they are supporting ‘social’ work. Well, besides the practical fact that every Red Shield information brochure I’ve ever handed out included our ‘churches’ in the list of services I’ve got some other issues with this one. The first one is that our ‘spiritual’ work is our ‘social’ work. That is to say in Canada specifically it’s the only ‘real’ way that people are poor (with the exception of child poverty). We are spiritually bankrupt. And while we are busy apologizing for using funds to assist with our ‘whole’ mission of the gospel, others (like every spiritual yoohoo known to humanity) are busting their butts trying to fill the spiritual emptiness with stale water. You don’t find the DAYTOX treatment centre (where we were sending an ex-drug addict for support) apologizing for using public money (a government program) to fund ‘acupuncture’ and ‘new age chanelling’ as a part of its program. You don’t see the Community Centre down the road from my house apologizing for offering ZEN classes (even though the teacher is paid from public funds). You don’t hear the government apologizing much about using my tax dollars to fund abortions even though it’s against my own spiritual beliefs…. But I guess it’s just a Christian thing to be so utterly apologetic about what it is we hold as the answer to humanities most pressing needs. God forbid we would use public funds to fund our mission – how ‘unethical’. The only other problem I’ve got with the idea is what exactly people think The SALVATION Army means. I mean, if people can’t read – is that my fault? William Booth responded when he was accused of unethical uses of money for the gospel, “I would take money from the devil himself, dip it in the blood of the lamb and use it for the extension of the kingdom of God”. We agree it seems, with only taking the money from the devil. The kingdom is a bit too risky – um, ethically, that is. Posted by Danielle Strickland, February 14, 2003.
February 14, 2003 Greetings in Jesus’ name, friends. Here’s a quote I’ve been sitting on for awhile. We trained hard... but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing, and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization. Petronius Arbiter, 210 BC How tempting is it to flip everything upside down at the slightest sniff of change in the wind! It is comforting to realize that this isn’t some new trend. Petronius observed it 2,200 years ago. The Church deals with it, too. I’ve watched church growth come and go. I’ve watch seeker sensitivity be replaced by Saviour sensitivity. I’ve seen jimbes and incense replace bass drums and air freshener (yes, while it is true that I hid the bass drum in my closet at my first appointment, I did spray air freshener through the hall before everyone arrived). I’ve seen modern, rational approaches to the Gospel replaced by postmodern styles. I’ve seen denominationalism made musty by the modish non- and anti-denominationalism. And I’m not that old! I wonder how much of this frantic change has merely created the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization? I wonder if we can discern fashion from fundamental, foundational transfiguration of our Gospel, our worship, our MO, our evangelism, our Christianity? I’m not harping on about the glory days (I missed them myself). But I wonder about change for the sake of, well, change. Is it about Christendom selling more books, tapes, bracelets, and t-shirts? Or is it about Jesus prodding us on to something new? Because, as Moses boldly asserted, if God isn’t moving from here, I’m not budging an inch. Posted by Stephen Court, February 14, 2003.
February 13, 2003. Greetings in Jesus’ name, friends. I want to pick up on another consequence of Romans 16:20, “and the God of peace will soon crush satan under your feet.” We are not tools. We are not merely instruments. According to 2 Corinthians 5:20 we are ambassadors of Christ. We are co-labourers with God. This is huge! Why? It is OUR feet. We have responsibility. If we don’t do it, plans are messed up. An ambassador is a trusted representative of the King. An ambassador makes decisions and acts on behalf of the King. If an ambassador fails, she is removed from office. If a co-labourer messes up, he is removed from the worksite. It a comrade-in-arms messes up, we’re removed from the battlefield. Scripture supports this. In Ezekiel 22 various judgments are decided against Israel for various sins, including idolatry, incest, robbery, oppression, robbery, profanity, false prophecy, etc. So, in verse 30 God explains: “I sought for a man among them who would make a wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.” So He consumed them with His wrath. Or how about with Sodom and Gomorrah? Genesis 18:32, God promises, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten (righteous).” If there had been ten righteous people in those two cities then God would have spared them both. But ten couldn’t be found. So judgment came. We are responsible. A tool can blame its maker for defects and can take no blame for failure. But a co-labourer or an ambassador has to take responsibility. Let’s take responsibility today to further the struggle for the devil’s jugular. Posted by Stephen Court, February 13, 2003.
February 12, 2003. Dusk fell on the remote hills and sparse tree line, playing tricks with your vision. Was that a wild animal skirting across the valley, or, more innocuously, a shadow? As night settled into its quiet somnolence, the highly decorated Commander parachuted in to enemy territory. The Reclamation Operation began. And that, folks, is the beginning of the end of human history. Jesus undertook to reclaim enemy land and re-establish the Kingdom of God on planet earth. The Salvation Army has a healthy view of spiritual warfare, recognizing that, in this gigantic reclamation operation, spiritual warfare is the means to the end of the return of Jesus Christ as global King. To many people, spiritual warfare, as engaging as subject as it is, can become the end. That it is a reclamation operation connotes that the earth is now not under the control of God. People tend to get all tied up in knots at this statement, as if it is somehow a poor reflection on the sovereignty of God. This is poor thinking. Watch this: God created everything. He set the rules in this closed system called humanity. These include such things as free will and consequence. God, having set the rules, plays by them. Now, when people, choosing with their free will, sinned, the consequence was that satan, who had bamboozled them, lawfully took their dominion over the earth that had been delegated to them by God. Do you follow? And so the Bible correctly states that satan is the god of this age and the power of darkness in this world. He owns it. That is why Jesus initiated the massive reclamation operation. Recently, Danielle described the whole scenario by comparing it to D Day and V-E Day. Though THE decisive victory was won at D Day, much fighting remained. Some battles were lost. Casualties mounted. There was much carnage, before V-E Day arrived. This is important to emphasize because many Christians believe, incorrectly, that Jesus crushed satan at the Battle of Golgotha and that all we have to do is mop up. No no no. Such thinking has some serious consequences affecting our battle readiness, our battle performance, our battle willingness, and the well-being of others. You see, Jesus did not crush satan at the Battle of Golgotha. Yes, He defeated him. Yes, He humbled him. Yes, He won in such a way that we can compare it with D Day. But the Bible calls it a bruising, not a crushing. This bruised enemy is dangerous. The wounded foe is a dangerous enemy. History records that the wounded foe is a dangerous enemy. The movies record that the wounded foe is a dangerous enemy. Rocky made a career of it. The WWF records that the wounded foe is a dangerous enemy. In grade 12 I spent a year following it all, and nearly every fight follows the same theme, with one person rising back from the brink of disaster to heroically defeat the opposition. Back in Genesis 3:15, when God is dictating the consequences of sin to Eve and to the serpent, He asserts that her Seed will bruise the serpent’s head, and the serpent will bruise His heel. Jesus will bruise satan. And He did that at the Battle of Golgotha. But look at Romans 16:20: “The God of peace will soon crush satan under your feet.” Two things are pertinent here: a) God will SOON crush satan. That means satan isn’t crush yet. b) He will soon crush satan under OUR feet. There is a boatload of good stuff right here. First, it shows us Jesus’ MO, His modus operandi, His mode of operation, the ways He does things. We know that Joshua is a type of Christ. That is, his life foreshadows some of the things that Jesus does centuries later. They share the same name. They both lead their people out of the wilderness into the promised land. And so on. You may remember that after Joshua took Jericho the surrounding nation-states were terrified. A southern coalition was formed by five kings to rid Caanan of the Israelite intrusion. The Battle of Gilgal was a historic victory. The five kings attacked the Gibeonites at Gilgal, knowing that Joshua would get sucked into the fighting to honour the brand new covenant he had entered with them. It was a supernatural battle. The Bible reports that the sun stood still, waiting for Joshua to finish off the five armies of Amorites. Not only that, but God directly pitched in by hurling great hail stones at the enemy and killing more of them than the Israelites did. When the battle was obviously lost, the southern coalition kings hid in a cave at Makkedah. At the end of the day, Joshua and his army rolled the stone away and yanked out the frightened kings. Now, Joshua could have easily killed them on the spot. Instead, he had the captains of his men of war place their feet on their necks. When you place your foot on the neck of the foe you are exercising your complete domination over your foe, Joshua was sharing the domination with his soldiers and allowing them to share in the victory. THEN he chopped off their heads. The God of peace will soon crush satan under your feet. You probably remember Ephesians 1:22,23 on our position in Christ. We are the body. Jesus is the head. All things are under our feet. All we have to do is start stomping. Posted by Stephen Court, February 12, 2003.
February 11, 2003. Greetings in Jesus’ name, friends. My chums Chris and Tom are avid moviegoers. For young guys they have surprisingly astute and insightful opinions on the latest flicks. They stumbled onto what has probably become the trendy youth group video clip concept from the last couple of rounds of the Star Wars franchise, that of the Jedi. You can see how it works on a Saturday night with a hundred teenagers: the Jedi were disciplined; the Jedi were set apart; the Jedi were organized with a discipler and a disciple; the Jedi went in pairs. And likewise we, Christians, are supposed to be disciplined; We, Christians, are to be set apart; We, Christians, are to be organized with a discipler and a disciple; We, Christians, are to go about in pairs. Then we get the band to prompt the emotions of the softest amongst them, get them to wave a hand in the air or come to the mercy seat, and then move smoothly into the de rigeur pop and chips ‘fellowship’. But give Chris and Tom much more credit than that. This is not their deconstruction. While theirs is as simple, it is much more profound. For them, the Jedi jazz is epitomized by the two of them (the Jedi, not Chris and Tom!), souped up in their anti-fashionable uniform robes, gliding down a busy thoroughfare. The human throng imperceptively opens to their approach, a quizzical mixture of awe, fear, and suspicion, not quite sure what might happen next. For these strange men are powerful, and they control the forces of nature, and while they, as with Aslan in another world, are known to be good, they are not domesticated. Chris and Tom bite that moment and apply it without a side dish across the table to Christianity. But this is no comparison; it is a challenge. We’re not talking about the youth group get-together here. Neither are we describing the experience of 99% of Christians, myself included. No, the challenge to Jedi status is one that most of us will have to address. You see, as with Jedi, we should be able to harness the forces of nature, to demonstrate the power of God, to overcome demons, in such a way that the common person on the street isn’t quite sure about us. Sure, they acknowledge us to be good people, but, with a mixture of awe, fear, and suspicion, they are not quite sure what will happen next. If I had the sure-fire answer, 614 would be rich! I don’t. It is too easy to remind myself and others to repent, to believe, to obey, to pray, and to read the Bible. Most of us do all of these religiously (and I use that term in its best sense), and yet we live more like ‘storm troopers’ than the Jedi. I have been wrestling with the conundrum though, and I might have stumbled upon a solution. What I am about to propose is obviously not a sufficient cause. That is, just because you do it doesn’t mean that you will be Jedi, in our sense of the term. Your doing it is not sufficient to make you Jedi. While not a sufficient cause, I am convinced that it is a necessary cause. It might not be enough to put you over the top, but if you don’t have it, you’ll never make it. And it is covenant. THE NAZIRITES You may remember the Nazirites. Described to us in Numbers 6, Nazirites, which means ‘separated’, took a special vow before God. These people were characterized by their holiness, their submitted, sacrificial, obedience. Now, there were some inconvenient conditions to the Nazirite vow. You couldn’t cut your hair during the vow. And after the term was over, there were specific requirements to follow regarding the dispersal of your hair (which was to be entirely shaved off). You couldn’t touch dead bodies. You couldn’t drink… that sort of thing. (Have you ever met a Nazirite? There are many floating around these days. I know one. He took a one-year Nazirite vow. His hair grew through various stages, from short to shoulder-length. At the end of the year, he had it all shaved off as per Number 6.) It doesn’t sound the like the most popular way of life (although I didn’t see recruitment centres overflowing in Star Wars either), but it seems to be pretty effective. We only know of a few Nazirites in the Bible, and all of them were Jedi. Watch: - Samson (Judges 13ff) demonstrated superhuman power in leading Israel in revolt against the Philistines. Among other things, he killed one thousand with a jawbone of a donkey. - Samuel (1 Samuel 1:11,28) led Israel into its golden era, and all the while none of his words fell to the ground (that is, he was a very accurate prophet). He dragged a rag-tag collection of tribes into nationhood. - John (Luke 1:15) lived a fasted, prophetic lifestyle that ushered in the way of the Lord. Not only that, but, as a good prophet, he called out the inheritance, and he destroyed the destroyer (feasting on the harvest –destroyer, the locust). - Paul (Acts 21:23-26) performed all kinds of miracles while spreading the Gospel around the known world. Paul took a truth from a hidden corner of an empire and made it into the largest religion in the world. Not a bad line-up, eh? I mean, imagine going out to do evangelism with those four! Or even with one at a time, in pairs? Samuel could download hidden details of the person’s life that could open them up to the Gospel. Samson could give the General’s Elbow to any wayward Hell’s Angels. John could put the fear of God into anyone with a religious spirit. And you could tag along with Paul while he kicked demons and healed sick people. Each of these Nazirites was, by definition, in covenant relationship with God. And power came from the covenant. The only breach of the Nazirite covenant recorded in Scripture, the notorious episode of Samson’s haircut, actually exposes a spiritual breach of covenant. Samson, dogged to frustration by the persistence of Delilah, finally capitulated. “Wearied to death,” Samson, “opened to her his whole heart” (Judges 16:17). Of course, his heart belonged only to God. So he followed up physical adultery with spiritual adultery. Samson’s Jedi power came out of his covenant relationship with God. His loss of power came out of his breach of covenant with God. If we can tap into this hidden power of covenant we will position ourselves for God to unleash His supernatural soul-savinng, life-changing power through us, I think. Posted by Stephen Court, February 11, 2003.
February 10, 2003 Greetings in Jesus’ name, friends. To continue on the sin-and-demons vibe from the last post, picture this whole scenario like The Salvation Army camp in Saskatchewan. That camp is located in the middle of a larger property with another owner. That owner is obliged to provide an access road to and from the camp, out to the public road system. That means that at any time of day or night, camp staff, parents, or even every snotty-nosed kid you can shake a stick at can come or go, right through the owner’s property, legally, unfettered. My life is a lot like that camp story. If I rent out or sell a piece of land to sin, then a demon has access to it. And I do it the consideration of building it an access road so that it can have legal, unfettered access to and from my life. I can’t ask it to leave. This is a mess. Paul exhorts us, “Don’t give the devil a foothold.” It is a topological term (so I read in a book from Hemet California). A foothold quickly becomes a stronghold. So, repent of your sin. Not only regret and reject and feel remorse for it. Repent of it. Lighten up (literally- see Feb.9 post). Then renounce it- out loud, so the demon can hear that it no longer has any legal right to access this former darkness via the nice road you built. Then kick the demon out, reminding it, in no uncertain terms, that you are commanding it as a representative of Jesus Christ. Finally, ask the Holy Spirit to fill you up. Posted by Stephen Court, February 10, 2003.
February 9, 2003 Greetings in Jesus’ name, friends. I’ve got a thing about Christians being vulnerable to attack or harassment or oppression by demons. I mean, how dare they take on a child of God? We’ve been delivered from the dominion of darkness into the Kingdom of God’s Son, into to the Kingdom of light (Colossians 1:13). We are seated in the heavenlies with Christ (Ephesians 2:6). Where do demons get off hurting us while we’re smack dab in the middle of the Kingdom of God, and are, more specifically, seat with Christ in the heavenly realms? After all, Jude 6 instructs us that disobedient angels have been chained in everlasting darkness until judgment. And damp, dank darkness is the kind of environment these varmints crave. After all, satan and his forces rule in darkness (Ephesians 6:12). Before our conversion we were darkness (Ephesians 5:8). So how can an eternally chained demon, in darkness, attack a Christian residing in the Kingdom of God, and sitting in the heavenlies with Christ? By sinning. Sin is synonymous with the deeds of darkness (see Ephesians 5:11-13). When we sin, even though we’re in the Kingdom of light and seated in the heavenlies with Christ, we’ve set up darkness in our lives. By opening up darkness in our lives, we’re making demons right at home. Remember, it is not physical, it is spiritual. Demons are chained in darkness. But as soon as they look up and see a dark little closet in my life- BOOMQ@%(*%#!!!- they’re in there, legally, rightfully, and I can’t ask them to leave. So, let’s get this straight. I’m in the heavenlies. My dark closet of sin is an immediate destination of a demon. So the demon slides right up into heaven with me! I’ve brought hell into heaven. What does a demon do in such august company? It accuses the brothers and sisters. It backbites, starts rumours, envies, hates, lies, slanders, spews bitterness, hurts. While any self-respecting demon would flee in milliseconds, this demon gets a free ride in on our darkness. All because of sin. Posted by Stephen Court, February 9, 2003.
February 8, 2003 Greetings in Jesus’ name, friends. This week I heard David Demian teach. He is one of the spiritual authorities over Canada, and it was a blessing to hear a global, strategic perspective on what God is doing in and through Canada. Demian leads Watchmen For The Nations from Vancouver. He has the vision to rally the church in Canada to be God’s dwelling place so that Canada’s destiny will be realized. This is exciting because we’re not looking for just a visitation. We’re looking for habitation. Demian has done much to help prepare Canada for this dwelling and destiny. Part of the God’s purposes has to do with Canada playing a healing role to the nations. He described the whole situation as a chess match. Sometimes a piece must move in order that other pieces may move. The more powerful pieces are often stuck, waiting for the pawn to move first. He suggests that the world is waiting for Canada to make a couple of moves to open the way for the more powerful pieces. Although we may not be powerful, we’re strategic in that we’re a trigger. The main instruction he is getting for this year is that Canada must come near to God. This is not a normal exhortation to the Sunday morning faithful. It is chairos time, a window of opportunity for us to gain a measure of authority from which to influence nations. We’re talking corporately, here, not only individually. So, in the circle in which I fight, I encourage each of you to exhort your congregations to come near to God. It will enable us to bring healing to the nations. There are several helps to this process. Repentance is good. So is time. Let’s see where our obedience takes us. Posted by Stephen Court, February 8, 2003.
February 7, 2003 Greetings in Jesus’ name, friends. In my last post, I alluded to some of the roles of Jesus. These included bridegroom, King, cornerstone, Commander, head, and shepherd. Jesus has so many more roles. On top of His roles, He has a myriad of characteristics, the revelation of which give us further reason to honour Him. Nolan Clark likes to preach that, “The Jesus we see is the Christian we’ll be.” He’s right. · If we see an aggressive Jesus, we’ll become aggressive Christians. · If we see a merciful Jesus, we’ll become merciful Christians. · If we see a holy Jesus, we’ll become holy Christians. · If we see a healing Jesus, we’ll become healing Christians. (I was going to stop here and ask if you get the drift, but…) · If we see a miracle-working Jesus, we’ll become miracle-working Christians. · If we see a loving Jesus, we’ll become loving Christians. · If we see a justice-enforcing Jesus, we’ll become justice-enforcing Christians. · If we see a revolutionary Jesus, we’ll become revolutionary Christians. · If we see a political Jesus, we’ll become political Christians. · If we see a soft and cuddly postcard Jesus, we’ll become soft and cuddly postcard Christians. · If we see a forgiving Jesus, we’ll become forgiving Christians. · If we see an authoritative Jesus, we’ll become authoritative Christians. · If we see a warring Jesus, we’ll become warring Christians. · If we see an edifying Jesus, we’ll become edifying Christians. · If we see a caring Jesus, we’ll become caring Christians. Okay okay okay. You do get the idea. So, when we say ‘see’ (say that fast six times!), we’re talking about gazing. I guess the challenge is two-fold: Watch what pictures we’re fed of Jesus (this includes watching your intake of preaching, popular books, and friendly discussion), and gaze at as many Jesus’s as we can (and gazing takes time). Which Christian are you becoming? Posted by Stephen Court, February 7, 2003.
February 6, 2003 Greetings in Jesus’ name, friends. One of the most clever, imaginative, and wonderful creations of God is the Body of Christ. I’ve always liked to think of The Salvation Army as the fist of the Body of Christ. This invisible, somewhat nebulous organism is variously called a flock, of which Jesus is the shepherd, a building and a temple, of which Jesus is the cornerstone and builder, a body, of which Jesus is the head, a bride, for which Jesus is the bridegroom, a kingdom, of which Jesus is the King, and an army, of which Jesus is the Commander. I think that God dropped so many analogies on us so that we could explore the richness of the reality. Too many of us in North America, in and out of denominations, have lived a relatively lacklustre Christian experience because we’ve not delved into the profound blessings to be found. It is amazing and humbling that God requires us to rely on each other to experience the fullness of his blessing. There are a few ways to tackle this point. One is the issue of worship. Historically, our movement has been considered weak in worship. I love to swim in other streams and enjoy excellent worship for which some of them are known. Danielle corrected me recently by pointing out that we, the Army, have Isaiah 58 worship down. And so we bring an aspect of worship to the Body that is necessary to experience fullness in Christ. Some movements have specialized in intimacy. Another camps out on preaching the Word faithfully, compellingly, and boldly. Still another embraces the mystery of God and generates a holy fear in the worshipper. Others take a truth and protect over the generations, whether it is sovereignty, holiness, mission, or service. Some are excellent in evangelism; others in mercy ministry; still others in missionary work. When we all get together, we have a fuller sense of the Kingdom of God and of its King that any of us do alone. The Body of Christ is a supernatural thing. What are you doing to integrate and explore it? Posted by Stephen Court, February 6, 2003.
February 5, 2003 Greetings in Jesus’ name, friends. One of the key questions I ask people when I am trying to get to know them well, is, “Who influences you?” I find that it cuts through the superficialities of the weather and the local sports team and allows me to know what makes them who they are. It can also prove a telling rebuke to yourself if you find, on evaluation, that you are subjecting yourself to unsavory influences. In the big picture, I have several influences. William and Catherine Booth, who founded The Salvation Army, are biggies. They set a vision that God has passed on to me, to see The Salvation Army used in a significant way to help to win the world for Jesus. They are legends. George Scott Railton, who helped shape the Army with the Booths, is another. He was an extreme prophet, compared, even his lifetime, to Saint Francis of Assisi. GSR wore a SA crest on his PJs so that he could burst straight into battle when necessary. This was only after he failed in his attempts to make PJs obsolete by staying awake all the time to rescue sinners headed to hell. He lay down in the snow in St. Louis to attract crowds. He wrote incendiary books, including HEATHEN ENGLAND and 21 YEARS SALVATION ARMY. He wore sackcloth and ashes in a multi-thousand person gathering and stomped on an ungodly document right on the stage. And he was promoted to Glory from a third class railway car (only, he used to say, because there was no fourth!). As the writer to the Hebrews says, “The world was not worthy of him.” Frederick St. George de Latour Booth-Tucker, aka Fakir Singh, is another hero who influences me. His commission to invade India with The Salvation Army was simple: “Go to India. Dress like the Indian.” His complete identification with the heathen in India won multitudes to Jesus. Then as the national commander of the Army in USA, his complete identification with the heathen in America won multitudes to Jesus. In India, this involved name changes and bare feet and begging for food. In America, this involved living on the streets as a hobo, experiencing the cold New York nights and the under-society of turn-of-last-century USA. Samuel Logan Brengle, the Army’s ‘prophet of holiness’ remains an influence on me. His experience and teaching of holiness drew a line in the sand against the coming tides of liberalism within and without the Army in the early 20th century and helped multitudes (me included) come to an experience of humble, bold holiness by the power of God. He wrote several practical books on the subject, including HELPS TO HOLINESS. Charles Finney is another hero and influence. In primitive salvo days we called him ‘the Presbyterian Salvationist!’ He was a revival maker. Wherever he went the power of God accompanied. Factories were shut down when he walked by. Crowds dropped under conviction as he preached with power. Many were saved and sanctified under his influence. Two of my favourite books are by him: REVIVAL LECTURES and his AUTOBIOGRAPHY. John Wesley, a grandfather of The Salvation Army, is an influence to me. His PLAIN ACCOUNT OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION remains a standard on the subject of holiness. He restored Biblical holiness to its rightful place in the Church. He was bigger than denominationalism, stealing equally from any stream where he found truth. He led half a century of revival that changed the social and spiritual landscape of the western world. Those people are all in heaven. But living people influence me, too! I’ve never met Peter Wagner, but he influences me. He has impacted North America in his account of the recent moves of God. He has taught and mobilized and released all kinds of people into the war. Several of the leaders that he influences in the areas of the apostolic, the prophetic, spiritual warfare, and intercession, influence me. Wesley Campbell is a guy I have met who influences me. He and his wife Stacey have thrust themselves into Kingdom warfare. Wesley’s vision is as vast as his energy is indomitable. Wesley and Stacey model ‘team ministry’ better than anyone I’ve met (not to diss everyone else). At another level, of course, my wife and family and my 8-man accountability group and fellow leaders on my front all influence me greatly. I appreciate them all. They make me who I am. Who influences you? posted by Stephen Court, February 5, 2003.
February 4, 2003 Greetings in Jesus’ name, friends. I heard that this week from another new father who learned a lesson that I have now learned vicariously. He just disciplined his son for something and was praying about it. He sensed God surprise him with this: ”I didn’t give you your son to make him more like you. I gave you your son to make you more like him.” I think I will remember that as my 8 month-old son Zion and I hang out together in the months to come. God wants me to become like Zion. And, unlike my inclination to figure that this means cute, adorable, and a JOY (with a sensational hyper-ventilating laugh), I think that God means I am to recognize that I am totally unable, entirely needy, utterly dependent on God. I bring nothing to the table. I cannot do anything useful. I am pretty well useless. I need God. Posted by Stephen Court, February 4, 2003.
February 4, 2003 Greetings in Jesus’ name, friends. One of the verses with which I daily invite Jesus to challenge me recounts His words regarding His tactics in the great Salvation War. In John 5:19 He said, “The Son can do nothing by Himself. He can do only what He sees His Father doing. Because whatever the Father does, the Son also does.” Youch! If I were to follow that verse today, I’d do very little. It’s just that I see so poorly. And yet this was Jesus’ whole game plan. He abdicated His right to choose. He only obeyed. Wow. There are at least three issues here. One is the abdication of the right to choose. That comes part and parcel with holiness and the neutralization of the natural inclination to sin. Second, implicit obedience. This, too, is necessary for holiness. And finally, intimacy. If I cannot I see, I cannot obey. And so I pray, “Help me to see what You do and do what I see.” Revelation and Imitation. Posted by Stephen Court, February 4, 2003.
Feb 3rd, 2003 Living Together – the next chapter! Bonhoeffer is a theological giant. Really. I highly recommend that you check him out – not to mention, he went back to Germany in the thick of the fight to die with his brothers. God give us eyes to see what he saw. Anyway, Bonhoeffer says that every authentic Christian community prays, sings and reads the Bible together. I was thinking a lot about this because I remember back to a video of a man named David Hogan. David Hogan is mostly known for raising the dead. Really. Like real dead bodies coming back to life and whole villages getting saved and stuff. He was sharing about his own devotional life and mentioned that his family does devotions every morning TOGETHER. They gather in the living room (from the smallest to the greatest) and they read the Bible, pray and sing TOGETHER. Then I remembered a favourite story about Mother Theresa. She was being interviewed by a reporter who asked about her several hours of prayer every morning. ‘What do you say when you pray?’ asked the reporter. ‘I don’t say anything, I just listen.’ Responded Mother Theresa. ‘Well, what does God say?’ he replied. ‘He doesn’t say anything, he just listens too’. I loved the idea of ‘abiding’ with God. As deep calls to deep – a ‘being’ with God that is too great for words. All of a sudden I began to realize that Mother Theresa does not pray in her room by herself for hours every morning. She prays in a convent with a bunch of other nuns in the chapel TOGETHER. This great intimacy that she achieves with God is IN COMMUNITY. Wow. So, I’m even thinking about relearning what it means to have my ‘devotions’ with God. Perhaps in our ‘individualization of christianity’ (that is the North American mindset that my relationship with God is a private matter and no one else’s business) we’ve lost the intimacy that we crave. Perhaps true intimacy, even with God is established through community. Still figuring things out.
February 3, 2003. Greetings in Jesus’ name, friends. We’ve just received news from our national headquarters that The War College is officially approved to start in September of 2003. We’re psyched. As soon as I got the news, I was in a meeting in which we were told to lift up to God what we had. I lifted up The War College. “It is not a matter of what you will have or what you hope to have, but what you now have that God is going to bless,” spoke the speaker. “He is going to use it so that you can train others to train others to train others to accomplish His purposes.” God nailed another word for us! My desire for The War College in Vancouver is that we can help to train up this generation’s warriors to help win the world for Jesus. This includes the worship leaders, the preachers, the prophets, the evangelists, the apostles, the leaders, the healers, the writers, the helpers, the intercessors, the teachers, and more. Because of the militant posture of the school, most of our students will be Salvationists. But this is not exclusively a Salvationist endeavour. Other streams of the Body will ultimately flow as one River, and we eagerly welcome qualified applicants from outside the Army to enrich our experience. We’re blessed by our international Board of Reference, the members of which have preached in hundreds of countries, written nearly two dozen books, and seen scores of thousands saved. General Eva Burrows, Commissioner Shaw Clifton, Lt.-Colonel Don Copple, Dr. David Demian, Commissioner Wesley Harris, Commissioner Phil Needham, and Major Chick Yuill offer great wisdom and spiritual covering to the mission. I encourage you to mention this school to those you know who might be interested. Very shortly we should have thewarcollege.com site completed and ready for visits and applications. Posted by Stephen Court, February 3, 2003.
February 2, 2003 Greetings in Jesus’ name, friends. In my last post, I mentioned that the daily abortion terror in the United States is significantly worse EVERY DAY than both Pearl Harbor and the World Trade Center. I’ve heard that 40% of this current generation has been killed before birth. Satan is very evil. I’ve just heard that two of the prophetic worship leaders of this same generation, David Ruis and Jason Upton, were adopted. These are people who, quite plausibly, might have been aborted. Their significant contributions to the world would have been lost. The world would be poorer for their absence. Imagine how poor our world is for the loss of scores of millions of people in this generation to the abortion suction and knife. We’re crawling around in abject poverty. Ruis and Upton become a rebuke to the world that says human life is not sacred. They are a taste of God’s redemptive response to the terror of abortion. Thank God for the adopted ones. Let’s talk this subject up in our cells and small groups and from pulpits on Sundays and pages of magazines so that there are more homes into which could-be aborted ones can be adopted. Posted by Stephen Court, February 2, 2003.
February 1, 2003 Greetings in Jesus’ name, friends. I’ve written in the new issue of Journal of Aggressive Christianity (armybarmy.com/jac) about our family’s recent foray into pro life protesting. The group we helped is called The GAP (Genocide Awareness Project). Their site is linked at the bottom left our website. There were a number of provocative pictures at the event. Here’s one of the many that struck me: A display of three tragic events in USA history: · Pearl Harbour- 2,403 killed, December 7, 1941 · the World Trade Center- 2,937 killed, September 11, 2001 · 1st Trimester Human Embryo- 3,600 killed, every day! Can we fathom the magnitude of evil? Every day, on a scale that far surpasses both Pearl Harbor and the World Trade Center, Americans CHOOSE to kills other Americans! This is one of the greatest evils of our generation. I suspect that it causes our God to weep oceans for the lost ones and over the evil of the killers. We need to repent. Posted by Stephen Court, February 1, 2003.
January 30, 2003 Greetings in Jesus' name, friends.
I've just been reading 1
Chronicles with my son. Chapters are dedicated to family lines
and family trees. In the midst of the lists of exile returnees
and gate keepers and Saul's relatives is a note about the
worship leaders. It turns out that this distinguished group, the
names of which are listed in chapter 6, actually lived onsite
(9:33). They worshipped around the clock (see also
16:4-6,37-42). They had no other responsibilities. But it wasn't just about oohing and aahing to God. Amos prophesied that God will restore David's fallen tent, repair it's broken pieces, restore its ruins, and build it as it should be (Amos 9:11). James clarified that prophecy at the Council of Jerusalem: "I will restore it that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear My name" (Acts 15:16,17). What is prophesied here is a restoration of David's tabernacle and the inclusion of the Gentiles in Davidic worship! This is a restoration of history's most intimate and intense worship combined with global harvest.This is the wedding of worship and mission. This is the culmination of world history. Posted by Stephen Court, January 30, 2003.
January 29, 2003 Greetings in Jesus' name, friends. In my last post I was on about Wigglesworth, among other things. As a great man of faith, he was often asked how to get faith. He generally referred to Mark 4:28. In the NLT, that reads, "First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of the wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens." It doesn't just come with a snap of the finger. It grows. I am one who is always on the lookout for a good turn-of-phrase. This is how Wigglesworth turns it: "Great faith is the product of great fights. Great testimonies are the outcome of great tests. Great triumphs come only out of great trials. Every stumbling block must become a stepping stone, and every opposition must become an oppo |
