Luther taught that salvation and, consequently, eternal life are not earned by good deeds but are received only as the free gift of God's grace through the believer's faith in Jesus Christ as redeemer from sin.
5. Let all things their Creator bless, And worship Him in humbleness, O praise Him! Alleluia! Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son, And praise the Spirit, Three in One!
Now tossed with temptation, then haunted with fears, My life has been joyless and useless for years; I feel something better most surely would be If once thy pure waters would roll over me.
Walking through the village one day, he came across a woman washing her doorstep. To her astonishment, he walked straight past her into her house, exclaiming, ‘This is the house!’
It is noteworthy that, after a number of appointments where he would have been the junior, Jukes was appointed to three of the most significant Circuits of that time. Tunstall, Staffordshire was the place of origin of Primitive Methodism and Ramsor had been almost as significant.
On the inside cover, just above a complete mini calendar of 1965 is an excerpt from a message entitled THE MASSES WITHOUT CHRIST, introduced with the words “God’s Soldier Speaks” that reads as follows:
“Now this is a wonderful sight this morning gentlemen. It does my heart good to see you both kneeling and what a wonderful job you’ve done. It would be such a blessing to have you kneel here again on the day of its dedication. Yes, the first two converts at our brand new Mercy Seat!”
And then there was the other brother, never spoken of very much and when mentioned there was always a hush, or whispered words with the adjective “poor” before his name.
Both Ray and Gwen, along with extended family in those days fit well into several definitions of the word “angel”. They helped me stay on my feet. They helped me stand!
It was a particularly heavy-hearted-Sunday when the seed was first planted and the sentiments expressed then, continue to rise up in me at every report of terrorism, mass shootings, any examples of hate in the hearts of people…
I was standing near one of our boxes of old corps flags the other morning where I imagined listening to a rather animated conversation going on among three of them. It went something like this...
Most are well acquainted with C. S. Lewis’s CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, particularly THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE. But I reckon not too many people know about the Salvation Army’s “witch.”
The Captain shouted a “hallelujah” as (after the third sing) we finished the chorus and then he invited us to continue worshiping by turning to song #202 in the Song Book – WOULD YOU BE FREE FROM YOUR BURDEN OF SIN? The band struck up and off we went!
Top, center, is a small red SA Crest; underneath in blue, larger, block letters, you have “THE SALVATION ARMY”; next a line to fill in the name of your home corps; then in a much larger font, red and bold, announcing in one word - MEETINGS!
The ill-will and the laughter of the slums, even actual violence, did not suffice to discourage him. The contempt of the upper classes and the coldness of the churches but intensified his determination to perfect a far-reaching organization for the amelioration of humanity…
The man's wife had no idea what the letters said, and she couldn't read anyway. So copying a sign from a store window opposite their home, she embroidered the words of that store sign onto his red sweater.
As we had our beginning in Victorian England one can understand our forebears utilizing this particular item of ladies fashions from that day - that it would still be found on the heads of Sally Ann lassies one hundred plus years later, for some, boggles the mind.
Again in our day one did not eat in church, except at special fund raisers or celebratory festivities held in the YP Hall, whereas today we’ve gone from cheerios in a small cup to three course dinners and a movie!
We had a nice chuckle and I replaced the song with one that had a less “Western Movie” motif! In the meantime, I’m not sure if Mrs. (-) is aware of this page or will read this post but in case she does, begging her forgiveness, I’d like us to take a look at the old hymn and consider the simplistic meaning of this brilliant metaphor used by the author (first used of course by Jesus Himself).
Being the basement of course, natural lighting from the outside was scarce and with no lights turned on it could be hollow and eerie, especially as “he” was in there.
I confess there were days when I felt that I could not do this; I could not live in these circumstances; I could not pay the price to be the harvester of souls that the Lord had called me to be; I was not a fisherman nor was I a fisher of men.
I had never thought to commit to memory the numerical place of each letter of the alphabet and like many a humbled man, I thanked him and walked away, counting on my fingers “A, B, C,...
Would it surprise you to learn that not one of the drums in our collection is in pristine condition but rather all are scratched, dented, dusty, and dirty, punctured, marked and to the untrained eye perhaps - thought now to be rubbish?
On good days we sometimes received two channels – CBC and CTV with CTV often sending a stronger signal, or maybe it was because we only had one antenna in the attic?
In my earlier life experience I understood L.O.L. to mean “Lots of Love!” You remember correct? I'm thinking, “I love you too bro, but isn't this a bit much?”
The call came early Monday morning. The lady sounded a little rattled and wanted clarification regarding recurring entries in her grandmother’s diary dated 1909...
Sometime in 1965 the calendar would reach thirty-six thousand and five hundred days since the Christian Mission, under the leadership of a Reform Methodist street evangelist, had commenced work in the East End slums of London England. The general-superintendent William Booth, referred to affectionately as the “General,” in just a
Their faces stare down at me as I pass along the hallways of 26 Howden Road. Depending on where I am of course, many of these folk are now long gone, promoted to glory!
