Strong are the foes that round me creep,
Constant the vigil I must keep;
But from a secret armoury
The grace of Jesus strengthens me. SASB 489.2


You know, The Salvation Army Songbook is an absolute treasure of truth and inspiration.
I used to carry mine around with me all the time but somehow I slipped out of that habit...
However, when faced with the reality that I won't always be surrounded by solid, familiar community
or an internet connection that gives me the hookup, I am reminded by Holy Spirit of my dear old friend, the Songbook.
Full of the encouragement and challenge and testimony of saints through the ages facing the same schemes of the evil one and sufferings and sweet victories available through Jesus Christ as me.
Hallelujah.

This is the lamp to pilgrim given, this is my passport into Heaven,
Portent of immortality, that God, through Jesus, dwells in me. SASB 489.4

“The first duty of love is to listen.”

—THEOLOGIAN/PHILOSOPHER PAUL TILLICH

"...a light-radiant cloud enveloped them. As they found themselves buried in the cloud, they became deeply aware of God. Then there was a voice out of the cloud: "This is my Son, the Chosen! LISTEN to Him."

If you love Him. You will listen to Him.

Speak to me by name, O Master,
Let me know it is to me.
Speak, that I may follow faster, with a step more firm and free,

Master, speak! and make me ready, when Thy Voice is truly heard,
With obedience, glad and steady still to follow every word.
I am listening, Lord for Thee - 1970SASB #533

O God let it be...that I wouldn't use my intentional time with You to babble on about my needs, or to ask questions of You but without pausing and waiting for Your Voice. Break me of bad habits, Dad. Amen.

Kingdom tactics I've learned on this battlefront that I humbly pass along...

~"Rash language cuts and maims, but there is healing in the words of the wise." Proverbs 12:18 (MSG)

~Value your comrades - honour them - they won't always be with you.

~God will give us the victory but we must be willing to fight.

~"Never walk away from someone who deserves your help; your hand is God's Hand for that person." Proverbs 3:27 (MSG)

~"Forget about self-confidence; it's useless. Cultivate God-confidence." 1 Corinthians 10:10

~"When the city came into view, He wept over it." Luke 17:41

Death and Glory,
Ruhani

We had a conference here in Vancouver called "RAW" which stood for ready and willing. The aim of the conference was to assemble young people on their March Break and give them opportunities to serve, evangelize, prophesy, weep, have their hearts broken for the poor as well as to be blessed by them and to hear teachings to equip them for battle in Jesus' Name.

When faced with the text I was given to preach on - Isaiah 52:7:

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news,
       who proclaim peace,
       who bring good tidings,
       who proclaim salvation,
       who say to Zion,
"Your God reigns!"

I was struck with the obvious action involved in bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ. We have to move. We can't stay on the battlefield when the victory has been won, NO! The fervour, the drama, the sheer elation of emerging triumphantly in God's eternal Kingdom, adopted into His eternal family stimulates the warrior - whether fresh from the farm or battle-scarred and seasoned - to propel themselves towards nearby persons. This often involved sprinting long distances through treacherous territory to bring the Good News to others.
Who are these "Others"? They are those who wait within walled cities, languishing under oppression from the enemy and no hope to look to.

Imagine how beautiful on the mountain would be the sight of one who brings news (especially good news) of the battle? The outcome of which would decide whether or not those city-dwellers had freedom and prosperity in their land, with fathers, brothers and husbands returning home after being called to arms - and quite possibly with cattle and riches in tow OR if you could expect slavery, or even worse, an army to march on your city and carry off your virgin daughters, burn homes, rape old and young women, piercing pregnant wombs and destroying all evidence that your people ever existed.
Beautiful feet indeed.

This call, to "Go ye therefore" (Matthew 28) is not a suggestion, but clearly the only fitting response after winning the battle with sin and death by surrendering to Jesus and receiving salvation. Referring to Strong's Lexicon, I was pleased to learn that the greek word poreoumai (which is used here for the word go) has this meaning:

~to pursue the journey on which one has entered, to continue on one's journey

Which leads me to a conclusion that if after coming to godly sorrow that leads to true repentance for your sin and accepting the sacrifice of Jesus and the forgivness of that sin, unless you SPRING FORTH and run to tell others who are still waiting in the barricaded cities of sin and death to bring them the Good News of Jesus Christ, then you aren't continuing on your spiritual journey. You aren't even entering into it. You stay on the battlefield feeling rather proud of yourself.

We must move! Others have to know!
If you have no idea what I am talking about and have never experienced spiritual feelings that would make you want to do backflips in the air and shout out in a public place out of sheer love for Jesus, then I adjure you to ask yourself whether or not you have truly had an experience with a Living God.
Otherwise, the deal is to Go...bring someone some Good News!

Death and Glory

In 1 Kings 7, Scripture relates the events of Solomon building first the Temple of the Lord (which was denied his father David) where the Lords' Spirit would come to dwell - as well as his own house - the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon where Solomon, his harem and his ego would come to dwell. The Lord spoke strongly to me of the comparison between the two structures, the way they were built and how they were adorned. Basically, Solomon loved the Lord, but practically right next door he builds his own house, which is way bigger than the Temple, more grandiose and pretentious. Then he built its duplicate for his wife - Pharoah's daughter. Seriously. Who did he think he was? Well...in his own mind, he was the king and deserving of certain perks according to tradition, his heart's desire and the influence of surrounding peoples.
It appears to me that Solomon made everything bigger and better than what God had ordained for Himself. Who in their right mind does that? Perhaps it's my small mindedness, or one's perspective changes when you've got untold wealth to play around with, but 90 feet long and 30 feet wide and 45 feet high is good enough for the King of Kings, it seems like a hint to me.
The key for me is that I don't believe that it was Solomon's heart to elevate himself. He just did it cuz he could. How often do I do things just because I can? I can talk myself into all sorts of 'perks' with the reasoning of "I deserve it, look at how well I've done, or how hard I've worked or how the Lord has blessed me with favour..."

I dunno, just some thoghts on a Tuesday night.
Thanks for the 'hangers-onners' who've stuck around after my blog hiatus...I jsut need a bit of a warm-up.

In Jesus' Holy Name.