Over the Columbus Day weekend, my wife and I made our way to Gettysburg to camp and explore the area. We enjoy history and to me, one of the fascinating features of Gettysburg is the monuments to all of the units that participated in the battle. In addition to the battlefield monuments, there are also some like the New York memorial (pictured) that are in the National Cemetery which honors those who gave "the last full measure of devotion" for their country.
As we wandered, I began to look for names on the monuments that might, in some way, be related to me. On the Pennsylvania monument I found one - Vincent Odell (pictured).
My maternal grandmother's maiden name was O'dell and her family was from the East, so it is possible that we're related some how. This discovery caused me to pause and think about what those three days must have been like, and what the families who came after to mourn must have felt. As I considered that perhaps my relative had fought here, I had a newfound appreciation for the bravery and sacrifice of those who had been on this hallowed ground in the summer of 1863.
Since that weekend, I have also thought more about the bravery and sacrifice of another man, Jesus Christ. Much like many of those soldiers at Gettysburg who sacrificed themselves on the altar of freedom, Jesus sacrificed Himself to save people who didn't even know Him yet.
In John 3:17 NASB we are told "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him."
This verse is a promise from God that His Son died for each of us to be free and have a restored relationship with Him. Just like the monuments in Gettysburg which remind us of that battle, each Christian is a monument to the saving power of Jesus. One of my daily prayers is that my life is a monument that points people to the meaning of Jesus' sacrifice. If you want to be a monument, I encourage you to contact your local Salvation Army Officer or another minister and see how God wants to change your life and make you a monument to His mercy and grace.
Written by Richard Pease
Divisional Controller
"Your grace still amazes me
Your love is still a mystery
Each day I fall on my knees
'Cause Your grace still amazes me"
-Philips, Craig, and Dean
Last week, my wife and I had the privilege of attending a wonderful conference at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary just outside of Boston. I'm not normally a conference kind of guy. I find them high in calories and low in "intellectual and business fiber." The Pastor's conferences at GCTS are the exception. Every minute on campus is an inspirational moment that presses me to be better at my craft and go deeper in my soul. "The Surprising Work of God: Calling The Church to Spiritual Renewal" was no exception.
Dr. Walter Kaiser (President Emeritus, GCTS) and Dr. Timothy Tennant wonderfully book-ended the conference with two brilliant lectures. One might describe them as Kaiser making the case for revival and Tennant’s pressing the possibilities for how revival might happen in this generation.
Kaiser showed us that 2 Chronicles 7:14 is paradigmatic for revival in Ancient Israel and in our day. He stated how revival occurs:
1. In a time of moral darkness, Biblical ethics have been overturned and morality and justice have been distorted.
2. When a consecrated servant of God becomes an energizing stimulus.
3. Bold preaching.
4. Destruction of idols or and competitors to the Living God.
5. A return to worship and adoration of the Lord God.
6. Determination to separate oneself from sin.
7. Exuberant joy.
"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV)
Dr. Kaiser cited four conditions for revival to happen:
1. A Call to Humble Ourselves
2. A Call to Pray
3. To Seek God’s Face
4. A Call to Return to the Lord.
And when the conditions are met, Kaiser reflected on five results of revival:
1. Relevant to All People
2. Jeremiah 18 – The Potter's House
3. God's Forgiveness
4. Begins with the nation of Israel and extends to all people
5. The Bless on the People and Land who obey God's call.
Tennant built on Kaiser's foundation with particular emphasis on the globalized definition of God's (MY) people. Out of space, but just want to share two ideas from Tennant:
First: Forces of World Christian Movement (which include): Globalization, Immigration, Technology, New Church Planting movements.
Then he addressed three major paradigm shifts in Global Revitalization Movements. He states that it is: "Time for a new generation of Christians, committed to apostolic faith to declare minimalistic, reductionist Christianity a 'failed project.'"
Global emergence of Christian revitalization is helping the church regain confidence in the truth of the gospel. Deeper ecumenism can move the church forward in the face of the challenges of our day
The upshot is that revival can happen again and again in our today. But, we can't be satisfied with trying to provoke the Holy Spirit to action via 'same ol, same ol.' Our Gospel must match the hour. When it does, when we do, God is hovering just waiting to surprise us again. After all (his grace):
"It's deeper, it's wider
It's stronger, it's higher
It's deeper, it's wider
It's stronger, it's higher than anything my eyes can see!"
Written by Major Carl E. Carvill, D.Min.
Asbury Park Corps
I was astounded when I read this story in the Book of Exodus, Chapter 4:1-5 and it says - But Moses protested again, "What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, "The Lord never appeared to you?" Then the Lord asked him, "What is that in your hand?" "A shepherd's staff," Moses replied. "Throw it down on the ground," the Lord told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back. Then the Lord told him, "Reach out and grab its tail." So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a shepherd's staff in his hand. "Perform this sign," the Lord told him. "Then they will believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—really has appeared to you."
I am so impressed about how often we pray to God for miracles, and then we easily become frightened when things begin to happen - and those things happening don’t look at all like the miracles we expected and prayed for.
Here was Moses, complaining before God about not having any assurances, or any proof of His existence to go before the Egyptians and speak on His behalf. Moses asks God, "What if they don’t believe me? What if they don’t listen to me? What if they say that you never appeared to me?" So what did God do? Well, He tried to satisfy Moses' concern, He asked him, "What is that in your hand?" Moses said, "a shepherd’s staff." And then, with the staff on the ground, God transformed it into a snake. The story says that Moses jumped back when he saw the snake; in some Spanish versions it reads that, "Moses ran away."
Here was Moses pleading for a miracle, pleading for help and understanding from God, and when God wanted to help him fulfill his mission, he became frightened by what he saw.
How often do we do exactly the same? How often do we pray to God for miracles or for help in a particular situation, but soon after things appear to be actually getting worse (the snake), we begin to run. We are praying for money and we lose our jobs. We are praying for healing, and then another member of the family becomes ill. Rather than trying to see God at work in the circumstances, we quickly take off running to the neighbors' or to a lender or to share or sorrows with someone else.
This is what often happens to us; God performs miracles in our daily lives, but we have problems accepting them as such, because we don't make any efforts to look beyond the appearance of things. We are too focused on our own needs and wants and miss the bigger picture. God is interested in using every opportunity as a teaching moment, as a life-changing lesson. How could we possibly think there's a miracle in being fired from a job, or being locked out of our apartment, or losing a close friend? Those are most likely not the miracles we are expecting, but they are part of a divine process that God will take us through on our way to victory. The road to the Promised Land runs through the desert.
Written by Lt. Giovanni E. Romero
Union City Corps
Carol Riley remembers the tears running down her face as she watched her 7-year-old grandson Aziz Goode swim for the first time.
"The biggest thing [The Salvation Army's Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center] did for me besides keeping him in a safe place, was you taught my child how to swim," Riley said. "Aziz learned how to swim here. We came to watch him – his mother, his father and me – and all we did was cry. Aziz can swim, and then he also went scuba diving? Where are we? Is this really Camden?"
Seeing her grandson at all is a gift that Riley counts her blessings for every day. After what she has been through, seeing Aziz born, let alone seeing him grow up, seemed unlikely. Ten years ago, Riley suffered a stroke; and then another and another. All told, Riley has suffered five strokes over the course of the last decade. The days lost to hospital beds have been far too many to count. Yet whatever toll those strokes have taken from here physically, they have done nothing to disrupt her mentally or slow her hunger for her family to succeed.
"This is something on my bucket list – to spend valued time with my grandchildren before I go to sleep," Riley said passionately. "But before I go to sleep, they are going to have to tie me down. Thanks to this place and Life of Lords – which is where I go for medical and is the reason I'm alive – between mentally here and physically there, I might be here for a while."
Riley became aware of what the Kroc Center had to offer shortly after its opening. Her nephew had been going through health problems and hoped the fitness components the building had to offer could help him become healthier.
"He's lost fifty pounds since coming here," Riley said. "I knew I had to come check it out."
As summer approached, she also knew she had to find a way to get her grandson into the six-week summer camp offered at the Kroc Center. So with the help of Aziz's father, Riley made the financial investment necessary to ensure Aziz's summer would be one to remember.
"The most positive thing that I have seen here this summer is that children in Camden have somewhere to go," said Riley. "I have lived in Camden for over 50 years and used to sit and watch the fireman come here (the Kroc Center site which used to be a landfill) because the fire would be coming out of the ground. I've been here a long time. Children have somewhere to go now. You really don't know how many lives you have saved here. These kids come in here in droves. They love this place, and I like it too."
"I had to find somewhere for my grandson to go for the summer where I knew he could be safe,” Riley continued. There are so many children and young black males, and Hispanics and whites killed on these streets every day.”
Riley paused before speaking about two young men in their 20s who were killed in Camden the night before.
"I don’t care what city or town you are in - things happen, and I don't want my child to be out there. I thank God for his blessings for allowing us to be here."
In addition to learning how to swim, Aziz has improved on his math skills thanks in small part to the café. Riley makes sure her grandson can count change before allowing him to order a meal.
Despite seeing so many tragic things in her 50-plus years living in Camden, Riley's outlook is one of extreme positivity. She believes things have made a serious stride in the right direction in recent years and that the Kroc Center is a major step in the right direction for the city's future.
"I have friends that come here from Voorhees," she said with a raised brow. "That's interesting to me. People never wanted to come through (Camden) on the bus, but they come here to the Kroc Center because they always know they are safe. You see people walking here, you see people coming in buses, cabs. People are coming to this place. This place is awesome."
After being through so much the last 10 years, Riley has a true appreciation for life and the time she gets to spend with her family. Having a place where that could happen this summer was the ultimate gift.
"I couldn't have anything better," she said. "Kids always ask me what I want for my birthday, and I always tell them 'love, peace and happiness.' And God knows this has been my love, peace and happiness to have my grandson with me."
Written by Eric Schwartz
Operations Assistant
The Salvation Army Kroc Center - Camden
