New Blog and Top 10 List

Okay! We're off and running! We've finally got all three of our War College student blogs going and listed to the left (thank-you and it's about time, Travis!). You will all be able to keep up with their daring exploits throughout the summer at Bangor through these sites. Not to mention, learn about them and share in their ministry through directed prayer (but we won't mention that).

Tara Ayer: Ayer Up There

Aurora Atell: Dayspring of God

Travis Roberts: Made for War

Do keep up with them all. Through this blog and theirs, you'll be able to quadrangulate (I made that up) what's really going on in the heavenlies over Bangor and in the hearts and minds of its people.

And now- the Top 10 List: Reasons we're excited about our coming students.

10) We can't wait to see how God works out their housing arrangements!
9) We want to see if Travis has cut his hair yet.
8) We've got to know if Tara will find a "Stinger" in Bangor.
7) We've been waiting forever to see the Borealis in Bangor.
6) We're wondering if Travis has learned any more chords on guitar.
5) We can't wait to see Aurora and her bouble bass get out of the car.
4) The teen boys are awaiting the arrival of that "hot babe," Tara (actual quote after seeing her picture).
3) We're wondering if Travis is ending all his sentences with "eh?" yet, eh?
2) We want to know if Aurora can get her stuff into her room before heading out to Youth Councils.

and the top reason we're excited about our coming students is:

1) We can't wait to see how God works out their housing arrangements!

Why Not?

Today's devotional thought with comment (my comments in brown, all emphasis mine):

Christian Discipleship

We proclaim Him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. - Colossians 1:28

Discipleship is personally transferring the full dimensions of your relationship with Christ to the person you are walking with (Great definition!). It is not the imparting of spiritual disciplines as much as it is acquainting another with a Person you love. Paul said that he would teach and urge with all his strength that every person God placed in his life would come to a complete experience of the person of Christ (Col. 1:29). He was not satisfied with people becoming partially like Christ. He would not rest until those around him were perfect, or complete, in Christ (I love that word, "perfect!" Replace it with "holy" and we're all set!). That is, that the fruits of the Spirit were being fully expressed through each life and the character of Christ was reflected in each person (Gal. 5:22).

We can mistake Christian activity with becoming like Christ. Christian activity and Christlikeness are not the same things. We must not assume that because our friend attends church and reads her Bible, she is growing as a Christian (This is a perennial problem in the church. We assume that because someone comes to church activities, they are saved. But if that were true, then going to McDonald's would make you a hamburger!).

Christian activities are an important expression of your relationship with Christ (Agreed). They can lead you to a relationship, but the danger is assuming that your religious activity is the relationship (This is eternally dangerous! How many people are we going to miss in heaven some day because we thought they were spiritually sound because we saw them regularly in church or some weekly program? This puts a huge responsibility square on our shoulders.). If you are only encouraging those around you to attend Christian activities, then you have not “discipled” them the way Paul did. You do your fellow Christians an injustice by teaching them that Christian activity is equal to Christian maturity. Do not rest until those around you have become “perfect” in Christ (Wow! Can you imagine what Christianity would be like if we took this to heart and practiced it wholeheartedly!?). If God has put new Christians under your care, you have an obligation to “stay with them” until they have reached Christian maturity. - Experiencing God Day by Day

Two days ago, I established my first intentional discipling relationship at my corps. Oh yes, I disciple people pretty often, as their leader; here and there, but this is different. We're meeting weekly at a set time to work on spiritual progress and develop a deeper fellowship in Christ.

Until he's perfect? Yeah, why not?

What are You Waiting for?

Our Northern New England Division recently had our 2005 Annual Command Review and our Divisional Commander sent out an email gist of the findings. There were two points that caught my attention and I would like to comment on them here. Whether you see it immediately or not, these two points are related.

1) We are particularly commended for the noticeable “healthy officer comment sheets.” These stand distinctly so in the Territory and is attributed to the officer small group infrastructure in our midst.

2) For the 2nd year in a row, Northern New England holds the highest appointment tenure in the Territory – 4 years 6 months average appointment length.

A few years ago, at the leading of our Associate Divisional Commander, Janet Munn, this division embarked on a "great experiment." I put that in quotes, because to those in the know, it was no experiment, it was a sure thing (I'd bet on it any day, if I was a gambling man). That experiment was Officer Small Groups.

At first, they were voluntary- after a year they became mandatory. Now, every officer in the division is a member of a small group of officers. There are roughly 8-10 groups and each officer has the choice of which group to attend (admitedly, some groups are too far away from a particular appointment to make it sensible to attend, so depending on the location, the officer may be limited in choice). The groups meet once a month and focus on different areas of study (perhaps studying a book). This year, each group is studying the book "Can You Hear Me?" by Brad Jersak (link in my column to the left- awesome book, by the way). Whatever the subject, the intent is to develop real Christian relationship and it's working!

I am a small group believer. I became involved in my first real small group in my last appointment. It was an interdenominational prayer group that became my church family. These people became my life-line and I learned to count on them, through the many struggles we worked through in the group over the years. Yes, many struggles! But we were committed to each other, so we worked through each struggle to a wonderful conclusion that developed trust and a sense of family. I was seriously sad to leave that group when we moved to this appointment in Maine. Some of those people will be dear friends for eternity.

"Church" as we have known it, over the years, is not working. We are not developing real Christian relationships in our body. Listen to the conversations on Sunday AM and you'll see we don't even know each other. So we need to make a change; we need to develop small groups (and our officers need to see themselves as people too- not set apart or higher than; equal with. But that's another story).

When our divisional officer small groups started, I heard it was being watched by all the other divisions to see if it would "work." I heard all kinds of disparaging comments, that frankly made me mad. Now, 5-6 years down the road, we've got a track record of success. To the point of our officer comment sheets actually being measurably more positive than the rest of the divisions in the territory and our officer stay average is the longest in the territory. If you think that doesn't relate, you're out of touch!

This division is committed to growing healthy officers and small groups is a major part of that equation. Healthy officers are happy officers and happy officers are productive officers. Productivce officers want to stay where they are to continue the success they are seeing. And you've got to remember that New England is spiritually tough ground! It's not easy ministering with such a high level of air warfare over us.

So now that we have a proven record- small groups actually do work, where are the other divisions? I think they should have stepped up to the plate long ago, but now that there is proof, there is no excuse. I think if our divisions are not willing to move in this direction, it should be mandated by our territorial leadership. Our officers are just too important. All our people are. I've seen program after program mandated by my territory through the years of my officer tenure. Most die out after a few years. None have produced the results small groups have. And we're just getting started!

And any corps officers out there aren't off the hook either. Small groups need to be implemented in each corps. Our corp's are producing similar results to the officers groups. Yeah, it's hard to get them going. No argument from me there. But you just can't argue with results.

Any Divisional Officers reading this? I challenge you toward small groups. Any Territorial Officers reading this? I challenge you toward small groups. Any Corps Officers reading this? I challenge you toward small groups. Any Soldiers reading this? I challenge you toward small groups.

What are you waiting for?

Songs Mean Things

If we use words, we must be careful to understand what they mean. Words mean things. We cannot just change their meanings at our own fleeting whims.

I've been thinking: Songs mean things too. They are words we speak through music, but they are words nonetheless. They have meanings that we cannot just ignore or blow off because we don't care at the moment or don't want them to mean what they do.

If we sing the words to a song that says something untrue or evil, we bring about their intent whether we agree with them or not. I'm thinking of those popular ditties that get into your head through listening to the radio (or whatever). How often have I heard someone say something like: "I'm not really paying attention to the words, I just like the music." Too bad. You're still speaking their reality into being over yourself. And if that ditty stickes in your head all day long, how many times are you reinforcing that junk? Yikes!

We need to be very careful what we speak, whether it's in words or music, because words not only mean things, they have power over us. Know anyone who thinks they're "stupid" or "ugly?" Or "I can't remember names;" "I'll never understand math." How many times does it take for us to convince ourselves they're true? How many times does it take for it to "stick" and we go through life believing what we've said of ourselves? I know plenty of people who have cursed themselves because of what they have convinced themselves of- just by speaking untruth over themselves over and over again! This is one of the reasons scripture encourages us to think about positive things:

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things. - Philippians 4:8

Let's watch what we say. Let's watch what we sing. Fill your mouth with praises for God and encouraging words for yourself and others.

Setting the Example

Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young. Instead, set the example . . .
- 1 Timothy 4:12

I was taught a serious lesson this past week- a lesson in trusting God. And this lesson was taught to me by one much younger than I, in fact, she is my daughter!

I watched and prayed as a situation I had no control over played out in her life. I "worried" that she would respond in anger. I was getting all my parental hackles up and was preparing to jump into the situation myself to try to protect her from any pain (she had no idea what was going on in my head). Then I got an email from her in which she told me how she felt about it all. She was trusting God had his hand in it and was submitting to the situation, believing God had a greater purpose that she just couldn't see at the moment.

I was floored! My little girl (who is usually so much like her Dad in these kind of things), has grown so much that she is able to trust God even in the middle of difficulties. I looked back on some of my own recent struggles and realized she was doing much better than I. She was setting the example for me. And I am not above learning from anyone- especially those younger than I.

You see, when we read that verse above, we often think of our side of the equation- "don't let anyone look down on you." But there is another implied side: "Don't you look down on anyone younger." How often have we missed a lesson or blessing just because it came from someone we considered to be younger than us?

Thanks Jenn, for "getting up to the plate and swinging for the fence." You hit that one out of the park! You are a wonderful example to your Dad and you taught me a powerful lesson. I know I risk embarrasing you by writing all this here, but I am proud of your growth and am only too happy to let you stand on my shoulders to get to the higher plane God has designed for you.

Keep setting the example and setting the bar high. You'll clear it and so will those you minister and relate to.

Adonay

I must admit, when talking with God, I use "Lord" more often than any other form of address. Lord, implies a relationship- one of Master and Servant; Lord having complete control over the Servant (slave actually fits well here). Yet how often have I gone to my Master, called him Lord and not complied with his will? That flies in the face of the definition. One day every knee will bow and acknowledge his Lordship over all things. But Christians are supposed to be doing that now. I cannot call God "Lord" if I'm not completley abandoned to do his bidding.

Adon is Hebrew for Lord or Master that is often used as a term of respect. It carries with it the sense of owner- at the very least, superior. Adonay (a-do-NAI) is the plural of adon and always refers to God. Isn't it interesting that God as Master, is addressed in the plural (3-in-1, get it)? Adonay shows up in our Bibles as "Lord" while "LORD" is the translation of Yahweh, God's personal Name. If they appear together, the NIV uses "Sovereign Lord" (Hmm, I like Master Yahweh).

The question I must ask myself this morning is, "Is Yahweh really Lord of my life, or do I just give him lip service?" I must be honest in my response, because it means nothing to call God "Lord," yet not really put myself willingly in the position of humble Servant, ready to do his will at a moment's notice. My will must be supressed, even ignored. His will must be supreme and always obeyed.

I will be thinking twice every time I call God Lord from now on. My desire is to make it truth and not just an empty word.

Take Your Stand!

I love it when The Enemy helps you out! It's never his intention, mind you, but sometimes, he's just too smart for his own good.

This morning, I was preparing to preach on trusting God through the tough things in our lives. All through my prayer time, I was feeling down- almost depressed. I couldn't seem to break through. Then all of a sudden, the thought flashed through my mind: "This isn't worth it. Give up; quit." That's when I knew instantly Satan was at work. So I broke out my Praying the Bible book, and started fighting back.

It wasn't long after that, that I did break through. My spirit lifted and I knew we had a good meeting ahead of us. And that's just what happened. I think God was able to break through to many people, because we took a stand against our great Enemy and caused him to flee! There was some very direct confrontational prayer against Satan and some very direct proclamational prayer over the people. It was one of those awesome, empowered times when God just wants to get his message through to us!

So we' re all going to watch for those times when Satan comes at us to make us feel depressed or out of sorts. And we're not going to let him get the better of us. We're going to trust God to work out any situation for our good. Want to join us? Take your stand!

Yahweh

Did you ever wonder why everyone has a "proper" name except God? I did, when I was younger. Then I learned that God actually has a proper name- Yahweh. We call him Lord, Master, Savior, King, Heavenly Father, etc, but rarely do we use his personal name. In fact, it's been so rare over the years, that most people don't even know the name and it sounds weird to us when we do use it.

Yahweh is used more than 6,800 times in the Old Testamant, appearing in every book, but Esther, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. The name was considered so sacred, that it was only used by the priests in the Jerusalem temple. After the destruction of that temple (A.D. 70), the name was not even spoken and the actual proununciation was lost. Adonay was substituted wherever Yahweh appeared in the biblical text. Wherever you find "the LORD" (all caps) in scripture, it is a translation of Yahweh. The assumed pronunciation today is
yah-WEH.

Yahweh, also known as the Tetragrammaton, was formed by four Hebrew consonants YHWH or translated into German- JHVH, which is where the name Jehovah came from. You see, the original Hebrew language did not use vowls until scholars in the tenth century began adding vowels to help with pronunciation. Since the name Adonay was substituted for Yahweh in the text, they used the Hebrew vowels in Adonay to the name Yahweh and it turned into this: YaHoWaH. So those who teach that Jehovah is God's proper name (Jehovah's Witnesses), are completely mistaken. Jehovah is a made-up name of God's actual name and the one used as its substitute!

12 And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain." 13 Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" 14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" 15 God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD (Yahweh), the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation. - Exodus 3:12-15

Jesus said of himself: "I Am." The people of his day understood what he meant by it- he was saying he was God- Yahweh. In fact, the name Jesus (Joshua) means "Yahweh Saves." Awesome, huh?

Based on my blog way back about how I prefer to be called "Doug," it makes me wonder if God would prefer we use his personal name today. If he's given it to us and asked us to remember him by it, I think we can safely assume he wants us to use it.

The name of the LORD (Yahweh) is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are saved.
- Proverbs 18:10

Yahweh, I'm running!

Working Myself out of a Job

Tonight, my youngest child, Chris, got his driver's permit. Yup, he passed the test after finishing his driver's ed classes. I can hardly believe it- he was just toddling around the house, getting into things a few days ago, wasn't he? His biggest gripe after class was that all his friends were driving their parent's cars away from class, but not him because we had the big 15 passenger van (Mom has the minivan at school)! Well, as much as I rib him about his driving, he's doing fine and I expect him to be a good driver. It all came quite naturally to him.

None of us is getting any younger. The old Cat Stevens song comes to mind: "The Cat's in the Cradle." There was a day when I couldn't keep Chris off of me when I walked in the door. Now, it's rare he looks up from his computer to even say "hi." He's growing up and I'll never have any of those old days again.

Not that I'm too sad about it, mind you. I love it when they get old enough to have good conversations with them (I well remember one of my first long serious spiritual talks with Jenn. It was awesome! Now, they happen often- PTL!). And that's the way it's supposed to be. My parenting job is all about preparing my children to live life on their own. I don't want to make them dependant on me. The way I see it, I'm supposed to work myself out of the job!

I thank all of you who spent time praying for our daughter Jenn. She's turned out to be a wonderfully gifted, Spirit-led young woman. I'm so proud of her- in the right way. Now I ask you to continue to pray for Chris- that he experiences God for himself and continues the process of growing up into the person God designed and needs to serve him.

PS: Don't stop praying for Jenn!

The Great Bangorian Sandwich Caper

It's 7:30 AM and it's mayhem in our building already! Well, not quite, but this is our huge annual Sandwich Caper week! Every year (since forever), the teens of the Bangor corps have been doing a Sandwich Caper fundraiser. It raises enough money to send them all to Youth Councils and any extra (usually plenty), goes into their program fund (which is used for programs, world services and such throughout the year).

In the last few weeks, the teens have been going all throughout the area dropping off sandwich orders to local businesses and offices (at $3 per sandwich, it's a steal). They are later collected and supplies are purchased. Then for 2 days, we all make sandwiches (heroes, hoagies, wedges, subs- whatever you want to call them!) and have them all delivered before lunch each day. It's a huge project! And it's great to see how it's organized and watch everyone scurrying around.

This year's traditional faux pas? The bakery that makes our rolls for us each year, forgot to make our rolls for yesterday! So that's twice as much work for us today as we get people cutting rolls as well as making sandiches all at once! I gave Mary MacKay a big hug and helped her get control of her breathing- she'll make it- she always does! Now if we can only keep Nick from throwing tuna on the basketball backboard.

So the corps will be humming with activity for the next 2 days! And I was reminded yesterday, of the new "tradition" I started for the guys- a sleepover (which makes sure they're all here by 7:30 AM Friday)! What was I thinking when I came up with that? I guess this falls in the same category as forgetting about painting rooms! {sigh} So it's X-Box and hide-n-go-seek all night for me!

Well, I've got to go . . . bread needs to be cut; sandwiches need to be made! If you're in the area, I've got an idea for lunch for you!

Watch it Happen!

Many people have recently asked me why I root for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays Baseball team. I'm not really tired of answering them, but for those of you who don't know my favorite team, here's the full scoop:

1) Years ago, when we lived in Cincinnati I rooted for the Reds, but I haven't really followed Baseball since then. My folks retired to St. Petersburg, Florida and we take at least part our annual vacation there. Since the Devil Rays became a major league team, we always go to a game while there. One day I realized, the Rays are the only team I've seen in person, in over 30 years! So I decided they're my team.

2) I love their team colors (Green and Black, with some blue and white thrown in)! Just don't blame me for their starting year colors nor lame jerseys that year!

3) Carl Crawford is my favorite player (with a close second of Joey Gathright, who's been back and forth from the AAA Durham team until he matures a bit more- the first few games of this year were incredible watching Gathright and Crawford on base at the same time stealing! Five between them in one game alone!).

4) You gotta love a team that can do as well as they do with the smallest payroll in baseball! Sure they could buy the World Series, like some other teams have done, but it takes a lot more perseverance to grow your young players in the farm system. Just wait until these young guys come out to play.

5) Lou Pinella is doing an excellent job of working with what they've given him (finances and players). He really is a great coach.

6) Tropicanna Field is a nice place to visit.

And now for my spiritual reason:

7) One of my spiritual gifts is Faith. So when I root for the Rays, I practice and develop my gift. I just have faith they're gonna do it! What kind of faith does it take to root for a team that wins year after year? One day, I will know what the Red Sox fans felt like when their team finally won!

Watch it Happen! is the Rays team advertising blurb this year. I'm watching! Go Rays!

PS: We beat the Yankees last night and are now tied with them for last place in our division! Steinbrenner is gonna be ticked- big time!

AAUUGGHH!!

What is it about me, that always forgets the pain and agony of painting or wallpapering a room myself? Every single time I do it, I vow I will never do it again. Then later, I forget all about it and say: "Sure, dear."

By now you can imagine what I'm going through. Deb's away at school and I said I'd paint the family room while she was gone. Actually, it wouldn't have been a real problem, if we had picked a normal color. We picked red. You know how many coats it takes to cover a wall in red?! Right now, I've finished 3 coats and it looks like I'm going to need at least 2 more! And maybe even another can of paint. AAUUGGHH!!

Pray for me. I really want to survive this. It would also be nice, if I don't burn the room down before I'm done. Deb would not like that.

'Twas the Night Before Jesus Came

'Twas the night before Jesus came and all through the house,
Not a creature was praying, not one in the house.
Their Bibles were laying on the shelf without care;
In hopes that Jesus would never come there.

The children were dressing to crawl into bed;
Not once ever kneeling or bowing their head.
And Mom in the rocker with baby on her lap,
Was watching The Late Show while I took a nap.

When out of the east there arose such a clatter,
I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter.
Away to the window, I flew like a flash;
Tore open the shutters and threw open the latch!

When much to my wondering I should hear;
But angels proclaiming that Jesus was here!
With a light like the sun sending forth a bright ray,
I know in a moment this must be the day!

The light of His face made me cover my head;
It was Jesus returning just like He said.
And though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth;
I cried when I saw Him in spite of myself.

In the book of life which He held in His hand;
Was written the name of every saved man.
He spoke not a word, as He searched for my name,
When He said, "It's not here" my head hung in shame.

The people whose names had been written with love;
He gathered to take to His Father above.
With those who were ready He stood without sound;
While all the rest were left standing around.

I fell to my knees but it was too late;
I had waited too long and thus sealed my fate.
I stood and I cried, as they arose out of sight;
O, if only I had been ready tonight.

In the words of this poem the meaning is clear,
The coming of Jesus is drawing very near.
There's only one life and when comes the last call,
You'll find that the Bible was true after all.

(I'm not sure who wrote this, but it does makes you think)

Six Resolutions

When William Booth was 20 years old he penned 'Six Resolutions.' They were discovered after his Promotion To Glory. They are as follows:

1. That I will rise every morning sufficiently early to wash, dress, and have a few minutes, not less than 5, in private prayer.

2. That I will, as much as possible, avoid all that babbling and idle talk in which I have lately so sinfully indulged.

3. That I will endeavor in my conduct and deportment before the world and my fellow servants especially to conduct myself as a humble, meek and zealous follower of Christ, and by serious conversation and warning endeavor to lead them to think of their immortal souls.

4. That I will read no less than four chapters in God's Word every day.

5. That I will strive to live closer to God, and to seek after holiness of heart and leave providential events with God.

6. That I will read over this every day or at least twice a week.

God help me, enable me to cultivate a spirit of self-denial and to yield myself a prisoner of love to the redeemer of the world.

I feel my own weakness, and without God's help I shall not keep these resolutions. The Lord have mercy upon my guilty soul.

Our Latest Attempted "Hit"

The phone rings. Deb picks it up and after a few seconds tells me: "Our Family Store has been evacuated. There's a fire in the field behind our building. The fire company is on their way." So am I.

The short story- the field is all burned black, but it didn't touch our building. Well, "didn't touch," in that nothing burned. The fire definately touched our building in at least 3 places. But again, no damage. God is good. All the time!

This is just another "attempted hit" by The Enemy on our now wildly successful Family Store. He keeps trying, but God is covering for us. He has a plan for The Salvation Army in Bangor and that place is right in the middle of that plan.

The outcome of the most recent attempt before this fire, is still pending. But we trust God has it all covered. No real worries. However, I'm not ignorant of the fact that The Enemy is attacking and wants nothing less than to wipe that place off the map before we have the chance to change Bangor through its ministry (Family Store, Christmas Center and The PowerHouse Teen Center).

I know God listens to you guys (he promises that), so I ask for your prayers on our behalf. Not only that each attack by The Enemy fails miserably, but that we begin the process of renovations in the Teen Center soon. Changing Bangor through the Teen population can't start soon enough!

Thanks!

The Bangor Vision Logo

A couple of weeks after we officially arrived in Bangor, we were headed out on vacation. We don't usually schedule vacation so soon after a new assignment, but we had little choice, because of our new schedule.

When arriving in Bangor, we didn't find a vision in place, so I knew I had my work cut out for me and immediately began pressing in for God's direction. My plan was to spend some free time on vacation, praying and listening. So as the plane took off from the Bangor airport, I pulled out my notebook and started to pray and doodle. The sketch I felt led to put to paper (before we even leveled off), looked very much like the one above. It needed some tweaking, but I knew God was showing me his plan. Within another 2 weeks of our return, I had heard the majority of the entire vision and began seeking what it all meant. Here's the gist of our PPP Logo.

The cross, of course, is the focal point of our mission and is intentionally at the center of everything we do. The words "Blazing the Way," refer to our historic and prophetic lead role in blazing new territory for our division and community. The 3 "Ps," however, provide the backbone to build upon. These "steps" are taken in the following order:

Promise: When we realize the Promise we are in Jesus, we settle into who we are. We don't have to worry about what others think, we know God loves us and has a huge plan for our lives. The potential is limited only by our faith!

Purity: When we know the Promise we are in Jesus, we can begin to walk in the Purity he expects of his children. The world needs to see models of this truth in action.

Power: When we know the Promise we are in Jesus and live in the Purity he expects of his children, we can experience the Power he promises in our daily lives. Power just doesn't happen without the first two.

After 5 years, I believe we're beginning to understand the Promise we are. But truth be told, I can hardly wait until we get to the power step!

The Bangor Corps Vision Statement

I thought it would be good to post the Bangor Corp's Vision Statement (Click on the picture to enlarge), since I talked about my own a few days ago. With it, instead of talking about the details of the statement, I want to share my thoughts about what happens with our corps' purpose when officer's transfer.

I believe God has a specific pupose for each church/corps- just as he has a specific purpose for each person. When you think about it, it makes sense, but I don't believe we think about it much!

So, like discovering our personal spiritual gifts and mission, we need to discover our corp's spiritual gifts and mission. Once we do that, we can focus on what God wants us to do instead of floundering around trying to do everything (only half well). It also allow us to say "no" to things that are not a part of our purpose and tend to drain us from being effective in our mission.

Like personal spiritual gifts, the major gifts and mission of a particular corps do not change (other than growth and expansion) with each officer that is assigned. But too often a corps gets going in the right direction and a new officer decides that's not the way he wants it to go and changes everything. That's a huge reason many of our corps are so innefective- we change our focus every few years (and if one of those foci is right, that means the others are wrong).

Here's the way it should work:
1) The Leader is responsible to "pull down" the vision from God.
2) S/he shares what s/he has discovered with local corps leaders.
3) They all work together toward consensus about God's plan for them, fine-tuning the statement as each person does their part in the process.
4) When they reach consensus (consensus is worth a lot more space than I'm prepared to give it here), they share God's vision with the whole corps.
5) The leadership begins the process of vision-casting, so that everyone can share in the ownership of the vision/mission.
6) The whole corps begins the work they are called to accomplish- their purpose.

If this happens, it is not subject to change when a particular officer moves. The new officer should come in, learn of the purpose (which should be well documented), gain ownership as well (as any new-comers would) and continue the forward motion to accomplish God's purpose. Think of how we could actually be winning the world for Jesus, if we followed one God-led direction without shifting around!

I'll tell you what- God's ideas are certainly better than any I could come up with! I'll tell you what- God's ideas are certainly better than any you could come up with either! Or any other officer who ever darkens the door of any corps, for that matter. So why do we do this to our faithful people, who only want to buy into the Army's mission of winning the world?

(stepping down off my soap box now . . . )

As a corps, we believe the above excapsulates what God wants us to be doing in Bangor, Maine. We are working in this direction and God has been leading and blessing. The results have been nothing short of amazing! Now, I'm not planning on leaving any time soon, but when I do, I pray the Bangor people will be strong enough spiritually to continue this work. I also pray the new officers are strong enough to let God lead and not go their own way.

First Place is Reserved for God

Unlike Abraham, God will not have us physically place our children on the altar of sacrifice. Yet in a similar way, he does require us to place all things of importance on the altar of our hearts. He does that because nothing can take first place in our lives over him. First place must be reserved for God alone.

What thing does God require you to sacrifice?

A few years ago, it became obvious to me that I valued Star Trek very highly. While noticing this truth, I began toying with the idea of getting rid of everything Star Trek in my life- cold turkey. That meant watching the current TV iteration (Voyager) would have to stop. At first, I thought it would be no problem, but as the day progressed (and time for the newest episode to air approached), it got harder and harder to convince myself I needed to make this "sacrifice." As the countdown neared zero, I sat in my kitchen (a mere 10 feet from the TV) agonizing over whether I could do this or not; whether I should do this or not. I tried to convince myself that this sacrifice was not necessary; my heart beat faster; the clock ticked louder. And it was then, in that struggle, I realized how important Star Trek had become to me. If it was so hard to leave behind, it had to have a serious hold on me- and that really bothered me!

Finally 9:00 PM came and went and great relief flooded my body. From that point on, I had no trouble leaving Star Trek completely behind.

Like the proverbial frog in the kettle, these things sneak up on us without our even noticing them. I'm sure that some of you think it incredible that a mere TV show could have such a hold on my life. But plug in some other thing from your own life and the story takes on new meaning. What is it that has a crushing hold on your life? What takes precidence- maybe even over God? That morning cup of coffee? That exercise regimen? That car? That person? Am I meddling now?

Months after leaving Star Trek behind, God spoke to me one day and "gave it back to me." I hesitated, but he assured me it would be okay from here on out and I have since discovered he was right. I enjoy Star Trek (and praise God for it, although Battlestar Galactica has overtaken Star Trek- "Enterprise" was so lame!), but it no longer has a strangle-hold on my life. God is first and there's no doubt about it.

Abraham too, placed his most valued thing on the altar and was prepared to give it up forever. God did not really require it of him either- but in the process, Abraham and I realized the same truth: God must have first place in our lives.

Yahweh Yireh

Yahweh Yireh (yah-WEH yir-EH), usually seen as Jehovah Jireh, is God the provider. The name is first seen in scripture when Abraham was told to sacrifice his son, Isaac. As they approached the moutain for the offering, Isaac asked his father where the lamb was they were going to slay. Abraham told him, "The Lord will provide."

I wonder what Abraham was thinking. Was he covering so his son wouldn't be upset or did he have faith to believe that his Provider-God would not actually go through with his original order? Did he believe that God would stop him and provide another offering in his son's stead? Either way, God was pleased with Abraham's faith and Abraham saw yet again, how his Provider came through for him.

None of us have been asked to offer such a costly sacrifice and yet how often do we balk at God's more simple requests? When we look back, we realize there was one from whom this terrible offering was required. God required it of himself. He himself required that he give his only Son so that we could be provided for.

It seems the human tendency is to remember the times we didn't get what we wanted. Take some time today and think over the many ways God has provided for you. That's a good way to recall how Yahweh Yireh has come through for you! You are blessed!

Jehovan Jireh, my provider! His grace is sufficient for me
(for me, for me)!

Jehovan Jireh, my provider! His grace is sufficient for me!

My God will supply all my needs,

According to his riches in glory.

He will give his angels charge over me-

Jehovah Jireh cares for me (for me, for me)!

Jehovan Jireh cares for me!

Quote for the Week

A prophesy is an invitation to action that contains a promise of blessing.

- Steve Thompson